Counterstreaming-ion-tokamak fissile breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jassby, D.L.; Lee, J.D.

1976-08-01

Tokamak plasmas fueled and heated by energetic neutral-atom beams are characterized by total ion energy greatly exceeding the electron energy. For smaller devices the largest fusion reactivity of energetic-ion plasmas is obtained when oppositely injected D 0 and T 0 beams sustain counterstreaming velocity distributions of deuterons and tritons. This scoping study investigates the net fissile and power productions of a tokamak fusion-fission reactor with a counterstreaming-ion fusion driver and a fertile blanket optimized for fissile breeding. The fusion driver has parameters R/sub o/ = 4.7 m, a = 1.0 m, B/sub t/ = 5.6 T, W/sub b/ = 100 keV (D 0 ), n tau/sub E/ = 1.4 x 10 13 cm -3 s, Q = 1.5, 14-MeV neutron production = 175 MW. The blanket contains a fast-fission zone of natural U plus Mo (7 percent), followed by a Li-bearing zone for T breeding. The reactor produces a net power of 480 MWe and supplies sufficient Pu to support a system of LWR's producing 3800 MWe, with an estimated electrical energy cost for the entire system of 27 mills/kWh

Self Shielding in Nuclear Fissile Assay Using LSDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Deok; Park, Chang Je; Park, Geun Il; Song, Kee Chan

2012-01-01

The new technology for isotopic fissile material contents assay is under development at KAERI using lead slowing down spectrometer(LSDS). LSDS is very sensitive to distinguish fission signals from each fissile isotope in spent and recycled fuel. The accumulation of spent fuel is current big issue. The amount of spent fuels will reach the maximum storage capacity of the pools soon. Therefore, an interim storage must be searched and it should be optimized in design by applying accurate fissile content. When the storage has taken effect, all the nuclear materials must be also specified and verified for safety, economics and management. Generally, the spent fuel from PWR has unburned ∼1 % U235, produced ∼0.5 % plutonium from decay chain, ∼3 % fission products, ∼ 0.1 % minor actinides (MA) and uranium remainder. About 1.5 % fissile materials still exist in the spent fuel. Therefore, for reutilization of fissile materials in spent fuel at SFR, resource material is produced through pyro process. Fissile material contents in resource material must be analyzed before fabricating SFR fuel for reactor safety and economics. In assay of fissile content of spent fuel and recycled fuel, intense radiation background gives limitation on the direct analysis of fissile materials. However, LSDS is not influenced by such a radiation background in fissile assay. Based on the decided geometry setup, self shielding parameter was calculated at the fuel assay zone by introducing spent fuel or pyro produced nuclear material. When nuclear material is inserted into the assay area, the spent fuel assembly or pyro recycled fuel material perturbs the spatial distribution of the slowing down neutrons in lead and the prompt fast fission neutrons produced by fissile materials are also perturbed. The self shielding factor is interpreted as that how much of absorption is created inside the fuel area when it is in the lead. Self shielding effect provides a non-linear property in the isotopic

The back-end management of fissile material at SCK-CEN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noynaert, L.; Massaut, V.; Braeckeveldt, M.

1999-01-01

The back-end management of fissile materials at SCK-CEN mainly concerns the HEU spent fuel of the BR2 (MTR) and the LEU and MOX spent fuel of the BR3, the first PWR installed in Western Europe and in decommissioning since 1987. It also concerns the experimental fuels tested in the SCK-CEN facilities. Furthermore as a result of its R and D programs in reprocessing and characterisation of spent fuel, considerable amounts of fissile materials in all kinds of forms and characteristics are stored in the different laboratories. For these, six main types of fissile materials are identified: highly enriched uranium, experimental spent fuel from the fast breeder programmes, MOX fuel, low enriched fuel, natural uranium and lab fissile materials. For the BR2 and BR3 spent fuel, various options, i.e. reprocessing, dry storage in casks and dry storage in canisters were evaluated against criteria, e.g. available techniques, safety, waste production, overall costs and policies. As a result of these studies, it was decided to opt in the case of the HEU from the BR2 reactor for the reprocessing without recovery of uranium while for the LEU and MOX fuel from the BR3 reactor, the dry storage in containers was chosen. For the others, the studies are still in progress. (author)

Long-term criticality safety concerns associated with surplus fissile material disposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, J.S.

1995-01-01

A substantial inventory of surplus fissile material would result from ongoing and planned dismantlement of US and Russian nuclear weapons. This surplus fissile material could be dispositioned by irradiation in nuclear reactors, and the resulting spent MOx fuel would be similar in radiation characteristics to regular LWR spent UO2 fuel. The surplus fissile material could also be immobilized into high-level waste forms, such as borosilicate glass, synroc, or metal-alloy matrix. The MOx spent fuel, or the immobilized waste forms, could then be directly disposed of in a geologic repository. Long-term criticality safety concerns arise because the fissile contents (i.e., Pu-239 and its decay daughter U-235) in these waste forms are higher than in LWR spent UO2 fuel. MOx spent fuel could contain 3 to 4 wt% of reactor-grade plutonium, compared to only 0.9 wt% of plutonium in LWR spent UO2 fuel. At some future time (tens of thousand of years), when the waste forms had deteriorated due to intruding groundwater, the water could mix with the long-lived fissile materials to form into a critical system. If the critical system is self-sustaining, somewhat like the natural-occurring reactor in OKLO, fission products produced could readily be available for dissolution and release out to the accessible environment, adversely affecting public health and safety. This paper will address ongoing activities to evaluate long-term criticality safety concerns associated with disposition of fissile material in a geologic setting. Issues to be addressed include the identification of a worst-case water-intrusion scenario and waste-form geometries which present the most concern for long-term criticality safety; and suggests of technical solutions for such concerns

Fissile Content Assay of Spent Fuel Using LSDS System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeon, Ju Young; Lee, Yong Deok; Park, Chang Je

2016-01-01

About 1.5 % fissile materials still exist in the spent fuel. Therefore, for reutilization of fissile materials in spent fuel at SFR, resource material is produced through the pyro process. Fissile material contents in the resource material must be analyzed before fabricating SFR fuel for reactor safety and economics. The new technology for an isotopic fissile material content assay is under development at KAERI using a lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS). LSDS is very sensitive to distinguish fission signals from each fissile isotope in spent and recycled fuel. In an assay of fissile content of spent fuel and recycled fuel, an intense radiation background gives limits the direct analysis of fissile materials. However, LSDS is not influenced by such a radiation background in a fissile assay. Based on the decided LSDS geometry set up, a self shielding parameter was calculated at the fuel assay zone by introducing spent fuel or pyro produced nuclear material. When nuclear material is inserted into the assay area, the spent fuel assembly or pyro recycled fuel material perturbs the spatial distribution of slowing down neutrons in lead and the prompt fast fission neutrons produced by fissile materials are also perturbed. The self shielding factor is interpreted as how much of the absorption is created inside the fuel area when it is in the lead. The self shielding effect provides a non-linear property in the isotopic fissile assay. When the self shielding is severe, the assay system becomes more complex and needs a special parameter to treat this non linear effect. Additionally, an assay of isotopic fissile content will contribute to an accuracy improvement of the burn-up code and increase the transparency and credibility for spent fuel storage and usage, as internationally increasing demand. The fissile contents result came out almost exactly with relative error ∼ 2% in case of Pu239, Pu241 for two different plutonium contents. In this study, meaningful results were

Nuclear energy - Fissile materials - Principles of criticality safety in storing, handling and processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

This International Standard specifies the basic principles and limitations which govern operations with fissile materials. It discusses general criticality safety criteria for equipment design and for the development of operating controls, while providing guidance for the assessment of procedures, equipment, and operations. It does not cover quality assurance requirements or details of equipment or operational procedures, nor does it cover the effects of radiation on man or materials, or sources of such radiation, either natural or as the result of nuclear chain reactions. Transport of fissile materials outside the boundaries of nuclear establishments is not within the scope of this International Standard and should be governed by appropriate national and international standards and regulations. These criteria apply to operations with fissile materials outside nuclear reactors but within the boundaries of nuclear establishments. They are concerned with the limitations which must be imposed on operations because of the unique properties of these materials which permit them to support nuclear chain reactions. These principles apply to quantities of fissile materials in which nuclear criticality can be established

Experimental verification of neutron emission method for measuring of fissile material content in spent fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abou-Zaid, A.A.; Pytel, K.

1999-01-01

A non-destructive method of measurement of fissile nuclides content remained in spent fuel from research reactor is presented. The method, called the neutron emission one, is based on counting of fission neutrons emitted from fissile isotopes: 235 U, 239 Pu, 241 Pu. Fissions are induced mainly by neutrons supplied by the external neutron source. Another effects contribute also to the measured neutron population, e. g. source neutrons from penetrating the fuel without being captured and scattered, neutrons (α,n) reactions and from spontaneous fissions of actinides. Complexity of phenomena occurring within the measurement facility required the detailed numerical simulation and experimental studies prior design of ultimate measurement stand. In the previous paper, the results of Monte Carlo simulation on optimisation of measuring stand for neutron emission method were presented. On the basis of those results, the experimental stand for Maria reactor fuel investigation has been designed and manufactured. The present paper, being the continuation of previous one, contains the description of experimental facility and the results of measurements for the fresh fuel (without burnup) and the fuel mock-up (without fissile materials). Although some discrepancies were found between Monte Carlo and experimental results, the main conclusions concerning the optimal geometry of measuring facility have been confirmed. (author)

Methodology for interpretation of fissile mass flow measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

March-Leuba, J.; Mattingly, J.K.; Mullens, J.A.

1997-01-01

This paper describes a non-intrusive measurement technique to monitor the mass flow rate of fissile material in gaseous or liquid streams. This fissile mass flow monitoring system determines the fissile mass flow rate by relying on two independent measurements: (1) a time delay along a given length of pipe, which is inversely proportional to the fissile material flow velocity, and (2) an amplitude measurement, which is proportional to the fissile concentration (e.g., grams of 235 U per length of pipe). The development of this flow monitor was first funded by DOE/NE in September 95, and initial experimental demonstration by ORNL was described in the 37th INMM meeting held in July 1996. This methodology was chosen by DOE/NE for implementation in November 1996; it has been implemented in hardware/software and is ready for installation. This paper describes the methodology used to interpret the data measured by the fissile mass flow monitoring system and the models used to simulate the transport of fission fragments from the source location to the detectors

Fissile fuel dynamics of breeder/converter reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harms, A.A.

1978-01-01

The long-term fissile fuel dynamics for a hierarchy of fission reactors covering the range from pure-burners to super-breeders is examined. It is found that the breeding gains of the core and blanket can be used to identify several distinct fissile fuel histories and elucidate the importance of fuel cycle characteristics such as the time dependence of the fissile fuel doubling time. On this basis, a self-sufficient fission reactor is introduced and its determining characteristics are identified. (author)

Quantitative Fissile Assay In Used Fuel Using LSDS System

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, YongDeok; Jeon, Ju Young; Park, Chang-Je

2017-09-01

A quantitative assay of isotopic fissile materials (U235, Pu239, Pu241) was done at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), using lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS). The optimum design of LSDS was performed based on economics, easy maintenance and assay effectiveness. LSDS system consists of spectrometer, neutron source, detection and control. LSDS system induces fissile fission and fast neutrons are collected at fission chamber. The detected signal has a direct relation to the mass of existing fissile isotopes. Many current commercial assay technologies have a limitation in direct application on isotopic fissile assay of spent fuel, except chemical analysis. In the designed system, the fissile assay model was setup and the correction factor for self-shield was obtained. The isotopic fissile content assay was performed by changing the content of Pu239. Based on the fuel rod, the isotopic content was consistent with 2% uncertainty for Pu239. By applying the covering (neutron absorber), the effective shielding was obtained and the activation was calculated on the target. From the assay evaluation, LSDS technique is very powerful and direct to analyze the isotopic fissile content. LSDS is applicable for nuclear fuel cycle and spent fuel management for safety and economics. Additionally, an accurate fissile content will contribute to the international transparency and credibility on spent fuel.

Irradiation performance of HTGR recycle fissile fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homan, F.J.; Long, E.L. Jr.

1976-08-01

The irradiation performance of candidate HTGR recycle fissile fuel under accelerated testing conditions is reviewed. Failure modes for coated-particle fuels are described, and the performance of candidate recycle fissile fuels is discussed in terms of these failure modes. The bases on which UO 2 and (Th,U)O 2 were rejected as candidate recycle fissile fuels are outlined, along with the bases on which the weak-acid resin (WAR)-derived fissile fuel was selected as the reference recycle kernel. Comparisons are made relative to the irradiation behavior of WAR-derived fuels of varying stoichiometry and conclusions are drawn about the optimum stoichiometry and the range of acceptable values. Plans for future testing in support of specification development, confirmation of the results of accelerated testing by real-time experiments, and improvement in fuel performance and reliability are described

Prompt neutron fission spectrum mean energies for the fissile nuclides and 252Cf

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holden, N.E.

1985-01-01

The international standard for a neutron spectrum is that produced from the spontaneous fission of 252 Cf, while the thermal neutron induced fission neutron spectra for the four fissile nuclides, 233 U, 235 U, 239 Pu, and 241 Pu are of interest from the standpoint of nuclear reactors. The average neutron energies of these spectra are tabulated. The individual measurements are recorded with the neutron energy range measured, the method of detection as well as the average neutron energy for each author. Also tabulated are the measurements of the ratio of mean energies for pairs of fission neutron spectra. 75 refs., 9 tabs

New Technology For Fissile Assay In Spent Fuel Using LSDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yongdeok; Park, Changje; Park, Geunil; Lee, Jungwon; Song, Keechan

2012-01-01

The principle of LSDS is very simple. The interrogated neutron induces energy dependent characteristic fission from fissile materials in spent fuel. The fission threshold detector screens the prompt fast fission neutrons from background and fissionable materials. However, intense source neutron is necessary to overcome radiation background. The detected signals have a direct relationship to the content of each fissile material. The isotopic fissile assay using LSDS is applicable for optimum design of spent fuel storage and management, quality assurance of recycled nuclear material, maximization of burnup credit. Another important application is verity burnup code and provide correction factor for improving the fissile material content, fission product correction factor for improving the fissile material content, fission product content and theoretical burnup. Additionally, the isotopic fissile content assay will increase the transparence and credibility for spent fuel storage and its re-utilization, as internationally demanded

Accelerator based production of fissile nuclides, threshold uranium price and perspectives; Akceleratorska proizvodnja fisibilnih nuklida, granicna cijena urana i perspektive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Djordjevic, D [INIS-Inzenjering, Sarajevo (Yugoslavia); Knapp, V [Elektrotehnicki fakultet, zagreb (Yugoslavia)

1988-07-01

Accelerator breeder system characteristics are considered in this work. One such system which produces fissile nuclides can supply several thermal reactors with fissile fuel, so this system becomes analogous to an uranium enrichment facility with difference that fissile nuclides are produced by conversion of U-238 rather than by separation from natural uranium. This concept, with other long-term perspective for fission technology on the basis of development only one simpler technology. The influence of basic system characteristics on threshold uranium price is examined. Conditions for economically acceptable production are established. (author)

Fissile materials and international security in the post-Cold War world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1996-01-01

It is essential that members of industry, government and international organizations be able to come together to discuss the latest developments in this vital field at events such as this. Given the number of years this organization has devoted to the issue, the INMM must find it interesting that the control of fissile materials has become such a high-profile issue in the policy and political communities. But, this evolution in policy is a natural outgrowth of the changing world situation. While just 10 years ago the US and Soviet Union were churning out the fissile materials needed for weapons, today these former rivals are working together, hand in hand, to corral the danger posed by these materials. And, while it is clear that the world no longer lives on the edge of nuclear war, the nuclear danger still exists, though in a less obvious and perhaps more insidious form. It is a great challenge in this post-Cold War world to contain this nuclear threat. It is prudent and necessary for the US to be in the forefront of efforts to address and tame this problem. The fundamental threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials is a direct challenge to US and world security. President Clinton has clearly recognized the changed nature of the nuclear danger. To meet this challenge, he has labored to put in place a comprehensive and integrated plan for addressing this threat. The US Department of Energy has a unique role in this effort because, as an institution with many decades of experience in fissile material matters, it is able to provide expertise and technical analyses that are essential in defining and implementing policy prescriptions. The president's comprehensive plan to prevent nuclear proliferation and reduce the danger posed by weapons-usable nuclear materials has four essential elements: secure existing nuclear material stockpiles; limit fissile material production and use, eliminate warheads, and strengthen the nonproliferation regime

Determination of fissile fraction in MOX (mixed U + Pu oxides) fuels for different burnup values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozdemir, Levent; Acar, Banu Bulut; Zabunoglu, Okan H.

2011-01-01

When spent Light Water Reactor fuels are processed by the standard Purex method of reprocessing, plutonium (Pu) and uranium (U) in spent fuel are obtained as pure and separate streams. The recovered Pu has a fissile content (consisting of 239 Pu and 241 Pu) greater than 60% typically (although it mainly depends on discharge burnup of spent fuel). The recovered Pu can be recycled as mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel after being blended with a fertile U makeup in a MOX fabrication plant. The burnup that can be obtained from MOX fuel depends on: (1) isotopic composition of Pu, which is closely related to the discharge burnup of spent fuel from which Pu is recovered; (2) the type of fertile U makeup material used (depleted U, natural U, or recovered U); and (3) fraction of makeup material in the mix (blending ratio), which in turn determines the total fissile fraction of MOX. Using the Non-linear Reactivity Model and the code MONTEBURNS, a step-by-step procedure for computing the total fissile content of MOX is introduced. As was intended, the resulting expression is simple enough for quick/hand calculations of total fissile content of MOX required to reach a desired burnup for a given discharge burnup of spent fuel and for a specified fertile U makeup. In any case, due to non-fissile (parasitic) content of recovered Pu, a greater fissile fraction in MOX than that in fresh U is required to obtain the same burnup as can be obtained by the fresh U fuel.

Method of storing fissile mateiral

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onoshita, Toshio; Ishitobi, Masuhiro

1989-01-01

Upon storing nuclear fissile materials in a storing building, vessels packed with fissile materials are inserted into a containing chamber divided with partition walls comprising neutron absorbers and neutron moderators. Thus, released neutrons permeating the vessel are moderated by the neutron moderators and then absorbed by the neutron absorbers. Accordingly, the neutron absorbing effect by the neutron absorbers is improved, and irradiation of neutrons released from one of vessels to the other of vessels can be suppressed. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the distance between the vessels in a contained state as much as possible, while securing the critical safety, to improve the containing density during storage. (T.M.)

Canyon transfer neutron absorber to fissile material ratio analysis. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemmons, J.S.

1994-01-01

Waste tank fissile material and non-fissile material estimates are used to evaluate criticality safety for the existing sludge inventory and batches of sludge sent to Extended Sludge Processing (ESP). This report documents the weight ratios of several non-fissile waste constituents to fissile waste constituents from canyon reprocessing waste streams. Weight ratios of Fe, Mn, Al, Mi, and U-238 to fissile material are calculated from monthly loss estimates from the F and H Canyon Low Heat Waste (LHW) and High Heat Waste (HHW) streams. The monthly weight ratios for Fe, Mn and U-238 are then compared to calculated minimum safe weight ratios. Documented minimum safe weight ratios for Al and Ni to fissile material are currently not available. Total mass data for the subject sludge constituents is provided along with scatter plots of the monthly weight ratios for each waste stream

Status of LSDS Development for Isotopic Fissile Assay in Used Fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y.D.; Ahn, S.; Kim, H.-D.; Song, K.C.; Park, C.J.

2015-01-01

Because of the large amount accumulation of spent fuel, a research to solve the spent fuel problem is actively performed in Korea. One option is to develop the SFR linked with the pyro process to reuse the existing fissile materials in spent fuel. Therefore, an accurate isotopic fissile content assay becomes a key factor in the reuse of fissile material for safety and safeguards purpose. There are several commercial non-destructive technologies for nuclear material assay. However, technology for direct isotopic fissile content assay in spent fuel is not developed yet. Internationally, a verification of special nuclear material in spent fuel, mainly U-235, Pu239, Pu241, is very important for the safeguards objective. These fissile materials can be misused for nuclear weapon purpose, not for peaceful use. As a future nuclear system is developed,, improved safeguards technology must be developed for an approval of fissile materials. A direct measurement of fissile materials is very important to provide a continuous of knowledge on nuclear materials. LSDS (Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer) has an advantage to assay an isotopic fissile content directly, without any help of burnup code and history. LSDS system is under development in KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) for spent fuel and recycled fuel. A linear assay model was setup for U235, Pu239 and Pu241. The dominant individual fission characteristic is appeared between 0.1 eV and 1 keV range. An electron linear accelerator for compact and low cost is under development to produce high source neutron effectively and efficiently. The LSDS is also applicable for optimum design of spent fuel storage and management. The advanced fissile assay technology will contribute to increase the transparency and credibility internationally on a reuse of fissile materials in future nuclear energy system development. (author)

Development of lead slowing down spectrometer for isotopic fissile assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Deok; Park, Chang Je; Ahn, Sang Joon; Kim, Ho Dong

2014-01-01

A lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS) is under development for analysis of isotopic fissile material contents in pyro-processed material, or spent fuel. Many current commercial fissile assay technologies have a limitation in accurate and direct assay of fissile content. However, LSDS is very sensitive in distinguishing fissile fission signals from each isotope. A neutron spectrum analysis was conducted in the spectrometer and the energy resolution was investigated from 0.1eV to 100keV. The spectrum was well shaped in the slowing down energy. The resolution was enough to obtain each fissile from 0.2eV to 1keV. The detector existence in the lead will disturb the source neutron spectrum. It causes a change in resolution and peak amplitude. The intense source neutron production was designed for ∼E12 n's/sec to overcome spent fuel background. The detection sensitivity of U238 and Th232 fission chamber was investigated. The first and second layer detectors increase detection efficiency. Thorium also has a threshold property to detect the fast fission neutrons from fissile fission. However, the detection of Th232 is about 76% of that of U238. A linear detection model was set up over the slowing down neutron energy to obtain each fissile material content. The isotopic fissile assay using LSDS is applicable for the optimum design of spent fuel storage to maximize burnup credit and quality assurance of the recycled nuclear material for safety and economics. LSDS technology will contribute to the transparency and credibility of pyro-process using spent fuel, as internationally demanded.

Feasibility of fissile mass assay of spent nuclear fuel using 252Cf-source-driven frequency-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattingly, J.K.; Valentine, T.E.; Mihalczo, J.T.

1996-01-01

The feasibility was evaluated using MCNP-DSP, an analog Monte Carlo transport cod to simulate source-driven measurements. Models of an isolated Westinghouse 17x17 PWR fuel assembly in a 1500-ppM borated water storage pool were used. In the models, the fuel burnup profile was represented using seven axial burnup zones, each with isotopics estimated by the PDQ code. Four different fuel assemblies with average burnups from fresh to 32 GWd/MTU were modeled and analyzed. Analysis of the fuel assemblies was simulated by inducing fission in the fuel using a 252 Cf source adjacent to the assembly and correlating source fissions with the response of a bank of 3 He detectors adjacent to the assembly opposite the source. This analysis was performed at 7 different axial positions on each of the 4 assemblies, and the source-detector cross-spectrum signature was calculated for each of these 28 simulated measurements. The magnitude of the cross-spectrum signature follows a smooth upward trend with increasing fissile material ( 235 U and 239 Pu) content, and the signature is independent of the concentration of spontaneously fissioning isotopes (e.g., 244 Cm) and (α,n) sources. Furthermore, the cross-spectrum signature is highly sensitive to changes in fissile material content. This feasibility study indicated that the signature would increase ∼100% in response to an increase of only 0.1 g/cm 3 of fissile material

Self shielding in cylindrical fissile sources in the APNea system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hensley, D.

1997-01-01

In order for a source of fissile material to be useful as a calibration instrument, it is necessary to know not only how much fissile material is in the source but also what the effective fissile content is. Because uranium and plutonium absorb thermal neutrons so Efficiently, material in the center of a sample is shielded from the external thermal flux by the surface layers of the material. Differential dieaway measurements in the APNea System of five different sets of cylindrical fissile sources show the various self shielding effects that are routinely encountered. A method for calculating the self shielding effect is presented and its predictions are compared with the experimental results

Chemical concentration of a new natural spontaneously fissionable nuclide from solutions with low salt background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korotkin, Yu.S.; Ter-Akop'yan, G.M.; Popeko, A.G.; Drobina, T.P.; Zhuravleva, E.L.

1982-01-01

The results of experiments on further concentration of a new natural spontaneously fissionable nuclide, the concentrates of which form the Cheleken geothermal brines have been obtained, are presented. The conclusions are drown about the chemical nature of a new spontaneously fissionable nuclide. It is a chalcophile element which copreipitates with sulphides of copper, lead, arsenic and mercury from weakly acid solutions. The behaviour of the new nuclide in sulphide systems in many respects is similar to the behaviour of polonium, astatine and probably of bismuth. The most probable stable valence of the new nuclide varies from +1 up to +3. The data available on the chemical behaviour of the new nuclide as well as the analysis over contamination by spontaneously fissionable isotopes permit to state that the new natural spontaneously fissionable nuclide does not relate to the known isotopes

Problem for theories with spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanda, A.I.

1981-01-01

Using a vacuum-saturation approximation, Vainshtein, Zakharov, and Shifman have shown that L = L/sub QCD/+L/sub EW/ can explain the ΔI = 1/2 rule of strange-particle decays. Requiring L/sub EW/ to possess spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation, we estimate epsilon'/epsilon using a similar approximation. We show that a very crude computation results in a very stringent limit 0.050>Vertical Barepsilon'/epsilonVertical Bar>0.048. This estimate is in conflict with the experimental measurement Vertical Barepsilon'/epsilonVertical Bar = 0.003 +- 0.015. This is a problem for theories with spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation if the above understanding of the ΔI = 1/2 rule is correct

Accelerating fissile material detection with a neutron source

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Mark S.; Snyderman, Neal J.

2018-01-30

A neutron detector system for discriminating fissile material from non-fissile material wherein a digital data acquisition unit collects data at high rate, and in real-time processes large volumes of data directly to count neutrons from the unknown source and detecting excess grouped neutrons to identify fission in the unknown source. The system includes a Poisson neutron generator for in-beam interrogation of a possible fissile neutron source and a DC power supply that exhibits electrical ripple on the order of less than one part per million. Certain voltage multiplier circuits, such as Cockroft-Walton voltage multipliers, are used to enhance the effective of series resistor-inductor circuits components to reduce the ripple associated with traditional AC rectified, high voltage DC power supplies.

Enhanced safety in the storage of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, G.E.; Alvares, N.J.

1978-01-01

An inexpensive boron-loaded liner of epoxy resin for fissile-material storage containers was developed that can be easily fabricated of readily available, low-cost materials. Computer calculations indicate reactivity will be reduced substantially if this neutron-absorbing liner is added to containers in a typical storage array. These calculations compare favorably with neutron-attenuation experiments with thermal and fission neutron spectra, and tests at the Fire Test Facility indicate the epoxy resin will survive extreme environmental and accident conditions. The fire-resistant and insulating properties of the epoxy-resin liner further augment its ability to protect fissile materials. Boron-loaded epoxy resin is adaptable to many tasks but is particularly useful for providing enhanced criticality safety in the packaging and storage of fissile materials

Design of LSDS for Isotopic Fissile Assay in Spent Fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yongdeok; Park, Changje; Kim, Hodong; Song, Kee Chan

2013-01-01

A future nuclear energy system is being developed at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), the system involves a Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) linked with the pyro-process. The pyro-process produces a source material to fabricate a SFR fuel rod. Therefore, an isotopic fissile content assay is very important for fuel rod safety and SFR economics. A new technology for an analysis of isotopic fissile content has been proposed using a lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS). The new technology has several features for a fissile analysis from spent fuel: direct isotopic fissile assay, no background interference, and no requirement from burnup history information. Several calculations were done on the designed spectrometer geometry: detection sensitivity, neutron energy spectrum analysis, neutron fission characteristics, self shielding analysis, and neutron production mechanism. The spectrum was well organized even at low neutron energy and the threshold fission chamber was a proper choice to get prompt fast fission neutrons. The characteristic fission signature was obtained in slowing down neutron energy from each fissile isotope. Another application of LSDS is for an optimum design of the spent fuel storage, maximization of the burnup credit and provision of the burnup code correction factor. Additionally, an isotopic fissile content assay will contribute to an increase in transparency and credibility for the utilization of spent fuel nuclear material, as internationally demanded

DESIGN OF LSDS FOR ISOTOPIC FISSILE ASSAY IN SPENT FUEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YONGDEOK LEE

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A future nuclear energy system is being developed at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI, the system involves a Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR linked with the pyro-process. The pyro-process produces a source material to fabricate a SFR fuel rod. Therefore, an isotopic fissile content assay is very important for fuel rod safety and SFR economics. A new technology for an analysis of isotopic fissile content has been proposed using a lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS. The new technology has several features for a fissile analysis from spent fuel: direct isotopic fissile assay, no background interference, and no requirement from burnup history information. Several calculations were done on the designed spectrometer geometry: detection sensitivity, neutron energy spectrum analysis, neutron fission characteristics, self shielding analysis, and neutron production mechanism. The spectrum was well organized even at low neutron energy and the threshold fission chamber was a proper choice to get prompt fast fission neutrons. The characteristic fission signature was obtained in slowing down neutron energy from each fissile isotope. Another application of LSDS is for an optimum design of the spent fuel storage, maximization of the burnup credit and provision of the burnup code correction factor. Additionally, an isotopic fissile content assay will contribute to an increase in transparency and credibility for the utilization of spent fuel nuclear material, as internationally demanded.

Fissile material and international security in the post-Cold War world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luongo, K.N.

1995-01-01

Given the number of years this organization has devoted to the issue, the INMM must find it quite interesting that the control of fissile materials has become such a high profile issue in the policy and political communities. But, this evolution in policy is a natural outgrowth of the changing world situation. While just ten years ago the United States and the Soviet Union were churning out the fissile materials needed for weapons, today these former rivals are working together, hand in hand, to corral the danger posed by these materials. And, while it is clear that the world no longer lives on the edge of nuclear war, the nuclear danger still exists, though in a less obvious and perhaps more insidious form. It is a great challenge in this post Cold War-world to contain this nuclear threat. It is prudent and necessary for the United States to be in the forefront of efforts to address and tame this problem. The fundamental threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials is a direct challenge to US and world security. President Clinton has clearly recognized the changed nature of the nuclear danger. To meet this challenge, he also labored to put in place a comprehensive and integrated plan for addressing this threat. The Department of Energy has a unique role in this effort because, as an institution with man decades of experience in fissile material matters, it is able to provide expertise and technical analyses which are essential in defining and implementing policy prescriptions. The President's comprehensive plan to prevent nuclear proliferation and reduce the danger posed by weapons-usable nuclear materials has four essential elements: (1) secure existing stockpiles; (2) limit production and use; (3) eliminate warheads; and (4) strengthen the nonproliferation regime

Transportation of fissile materials and the danger of criticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haon, D.; Leclerc, J.; Maubert, L.

1981-01-01

The authors examine the risk of criticity that can arise during the transportation of fissile matter. They then outline the regulations and studies made in the field of criticity-safety and the computation methods used. They discuss the applications that are reflected in the concept and design of fissile material packagings [fr

Isotopic fissile assay of spent fuel in a lead slowing-down spectrometer system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yong Deok; Jeon, Ju Young [Dept. of Fuel Cycle Technology, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Chang Je [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-04-15

A lead slowing-down spectrometer (LSDS) system is under development to analyze isotopic fissile content that is applicable to spent fuel and recycled material. The source neutron mechanism for efficient and effective generation was also determined. The source neutron interacts with a lead medium and produces continuous neutron energy, and this energy generates dominant fission at each fissile, below the unresolved resonance region. From the relationship between the induced fissile fission and the fast fission neutron detection, a mathematical assay model for an isotopic fissile material was set up. The assay model can be expanded for all fissile materials. The correction factor for self-shielding was defined in the fuel assay area. The corrected fission signature provides well-defined fission properties with an increase in the fissile content. The assay procedure was also established. The assay energy range is very important to take into account the prominent fission structure of each fissile material. Fission detection occurred according to the change of the Pu239 weight percent (wt%), but the content of U235 and Pu241 was fixed at 1 wt%. The assay result was obtained with 2∼3% uncertainty for Pu239, depending on the amount of Pu239 in the fuel. The results show that LSDS is a very powerful technique to assay the isotopic fissile content in spent fuel and recycled materials for the reuse of fissile materials. Additionally, a LSDS is applicable during the optimum design of spent fuel storage facilities and their management. The isotopic fissile content assay will increase the transparency and credibility of spent fuel storage.

Epithermal interrogation of fissile waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coop, K.L.; Hollas, C.L.

1996-01-01

Self-shielding of interrogating thermal neutrons in lumps of fissile material can be a major source of error in transuranic waste assay using the widely employed differential dieaway technique. We are developing a new instrument, the combined thermal/epithermal neutron (CTEN) interrogation instrument to detect the occurrence of self- shielding and mitigate its effects. Neutrons are moderated in the graphite walls of the CTEN instrument to provide an interrogating flux of epithermal and thermal neutrons. The induced prompt fission neutrons are detected in proportional counters. We report the results of measurements made with the CTEN instrument, using minimal and highly self-shielding plutonium and uranium sources in 55 gallon drums containing a variety of mock waste matrices. Fissile isotopes and waste forms for which the method is most applicable, and limitations associated with the hydrogen content of the waste package/matrix are described

Electronuclear conversion of fertile to fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Atta, C.M.; Lee, J.D.; Heckrotte, W.

1976-01-01

The electronuclear conversion of fertile to fissile material by accelerator-produced neutrons is discussed. Experimental and theoretical results obtained in the MTA program (1949--1954) on the production of low-energy (less than 20-MeV) neutrons by high-energy proton, deuteron, and neutron bombardment of target materials are briefly reviewed. More recent calculations of the cascade process, by which the low-energy neutrons are produced, are discussed. A system is described by which 500- to 600-MeV deuterons incident on a lithium primary target can be converted to high-energy neutrons, which can be multiplied by spallation cascades and nuclear excitation to produce low-energy neutrons in a depleted-uranium or thorium secondary target. Fission events producing heat and additional neutrons are produced. The evaporation and fission neutrons would be captured, and fissile material would be produced. The production rates for 239 Pu and 233 U are estimated for 0.25-A and 0.375-A deuteron beams from an Alvarez linac. The capital and operating costs are estimated, and the resulting costs of fissile materials are calculated. The cost of generating power in reactors using the fissile material so produced as make-up fuel is also estimated. The energy multiplication (power generated in reactors so fueled/power consumed by the accelerator) ranges from about 10 to about 50 depending upon the make-up of the secondary target; depleted uranium, thorium, or a combination of the two. An experimental and theoretical program to facilitate optimization of the parameters of a production installation is described. 13 figures, 14 tables

Enhanced safety in the storage of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, G.E.; Alvares, N.J.

1979-01-01

A ''plastic-like'' supporting material impregnated with a neutron-absorbing agent that is suitable for ''lining'' the inner surfaces of fissile-material storage containers was fabricated. The material consists, by weight, of 50% food-grade borax, 25% coal tar, and 25% epoxy resin. It costs much less than commercially available materials, can absorb enough neutrons to isolate units of fissile material, and possesses such structural qualities as flexibility and machinability. Properties and performance of the material are discussed

Exploiting Fission Chain Reaction Dynamics to Image Fissile Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Peter Henry

Radiation imaging is one potential method to verify nuclear weapons dismantlement. The neutron coded aperture imager (NCAI), jointly developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), is capable of imaging sources of fast (e.g., fission spectrum) neutrons using an array of organic scintillators. This work presents a method developed to discriminate between non-multiplying (i.e., non-fissile) neutron sources and multiplying (i.e., fissile) neutron sources using the NCAI. This method exploits the dynamics of fission chain-reactions; it applies time-correlated pulse-height (TCPH) analysis to identify neutrons in fission chain reactions. TCPH analyzes the neutron energy deposited in the organic scintillator vs. the apparent neutron time-of-flight. Energy deposition is estimated from light output, and time-of-flight is estimated from the time between the neutron interaction and the immediately preceding gamma interaction. Neutrons that deposit more energy than can be accounted for by their apparent time-of-flight are identified as fission chain-reaction neutrons, and the image is reconstructed using only these neutron detection events. This analysis was applied to measurements of weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) metal and 252Cf performed at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Device Assembly Facility (DAF) in July 2015. The results demonstrate it is possible to eliminate the non-fissile 252Cf source from the image while preserving the fissileWGPu source. TCPH analysis was also applied to additional scenes in which theWGPu and 252Cf sources were measured individually. The results of these separate measurements further demonstrate the ability to remove the non-fissile 252Cf source and retain the fissileWGPu source. Simulations performed using MCNPX-PoliMi indicate that in a one hour measurement, solid spheres ofWGPu are retained at a 1sigma level for neutron multiplications M -˜ 3.0 and above, while hollowWGPu spheres are

Potential for fissile breeding with the fusion-fission hybrid reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, D.J.; Lee, J.D.

1976-01-01

The general features of the mirror reactor design are discussed. Details of the blanket-coil geometry are shown. The inside face of the blanket segments are divided into individual pressure vessels. These submodules contain fissile breeding material located directly behind the first wall, a fusile breeding material behind the fertile breeder, and then coolant inlet and outlet plena. Two blankets are examined and compared in this study. One contains natural uranium plus 7 wt. percent Mo, the second contains thorium metal. The performance of these blankets is discussed

UF6 fissile mass flow simulation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihalczo, J.T.; March-Leuba, J.; Valentine, T.E.; Mattingly, J.K.; Uckan, T.; McEvers, J.A.

1997-01-01

Basis for measuring fissile mass flow in slurries, liquid, and gaseous streams is activation of a fissile stream by neutrons and then detection of delayed radiation from resulting fission products. This paper describes recent simulation measurements with the first prototype of the system for fissile mass flow measurements with HEU UF 6 gas for use in blenddown facilities. Theory was only 15% higher than actual measured; thus calibration factor would be 0.85. This simulation of HEU gas flow confirms well the understanding of the physical phenomena associated with this measurement system

Warhead and fissile-material declarations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

von Hippel, F.

1992-01-01

Until recently, arms control agreements were limited by the fact that the only available verification capabilities were national technical means, which involved instruments in space or beyond national borders. As a result, the SALT II treaty constrained only the construction of large missile silos, ballistic-missile submarines and long-range bombers - and limited the flight testing of long-range ballistic missiles. Recently, however, on-site verification has been accepted, making it possible in the INF treaty to extend controls to small mobile missiles and their launchers. This paper therefore outlines a comprehensive system of verifiable limits on nuclear warheads. The authors discuss in some detail the verifiability of a halt in the production of fissile materials for nuclear warheads, the verifiability of declarations of the amounts of fissile material produced for warheads prior to the production cutoff, and the establishment of a verifiable accounting system for the numbers and types of nuclear warheads possessed by each side

Verification arrangements for the proposed fissile material cut-off treaty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bragin, V.

2001-01-01

Since the mid-1950's, an agreement to terminate the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons has been on the agenda. On December 16, 1993, the UNGA adopted Resolution A/RES/48/75/L which recommends ''the negotiation in the most appropriate international forum of a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices''. The proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) is still one of the most important items on the multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. Successful achievement of the FMCT would be an important step towards the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. (author)

Fissile material disposition program: Screening of alternate immobilization candidates for disposition of surplus fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, L.W.

1996-01-01

With the end of the Cold War, the world faces for the first time the need to dismantle vast numbers of ''excess'' nuclear weapons and dispose of the fissile materials they contain, together with fissile residues in the weapons production complex left over from the production of these weapons. If recently agreed US and Russian reductions are fully implemented, tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, containing a hundred tons or more of plutonium and hundreds of tonnes* of highly enriched uranium (HEU), will no longer be needed worldwide for military purposes. These two materials are the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons, and limits on access to them are the primary technical barrier to prospective proliferants who might desire to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. Theoretically, several kilograms of plutonium, or several times that amount of HEU, is sufficient to make a nuclear explosive device. Therefore, these materials will continue to be a potential threat to humanity for as long as they exist

A line of defense approach to fissile material control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holloway, S.P.; Holloway, N.J.

1995-01-01

A crucial element of the safety policy of the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is that concerned with the safe control of fissile material in order to minimize the potential for unplanned criticality. The principles by which AWE controls fissile material advocate a simple Line of Defense (LOD) approach to assessing criticality-safety related aspects of fissile operations. An LOD assessment provides a measure of the depth of defense available to prevent general types of criticality accident and can be used to demonstrate compliance with the risk-based Basic Safety Limits (BSLs) and Objectives (BSOs) used by the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to judge the safety of operations in accordance with its Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs) for Nuclear Plants. This paper discusses the LOD concept, the basis of LOD assessment and describes LODs specific to criticality control

High order statistical signatures from source-driven measurements of subcritical fissile systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattingly, J.K.

1998-01-01

This research focuses on the development and application of high order statistical analyses applied to measurements performed with subcritical fissile systems driven by an introduced neutron source. The signatures presented are derived from counting statistics of the introduced source and radiation detectors that observe the response of the fissile system. It is demonstrated that successively higher order counting statistics possess progressively higher sensitivity to reactivity. Consequently, these signatures are more sensitive to changes in the composition, fissile mass, and configuration of the fissile assembly. Furthermore, it is shown that these techniques are capable of distinguishing the response of the fissile system to the introduced source from its response to any internal or inherent sources. This ability combined with the enhanced sensitivity of higher order signatures indicates that these techniques will be of significant utility in a variety of applications. Potential applications include enhanced radiation signature identification of weapons components for nuclear disarmament and safeguards applications and augmented nondestructive analysis of spent nuclear fuel. In general, these techniques expand present capabilities in the analysis of subcritical measurements

Development of a fissile particle for HTGR fuel recycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homan, F.J.; Long, E.L. Jr.; Lindemer, T.B.; Beatty, R.L.; Tiegs, T.N.

1976-12-01

Recycle fissile fuel particles for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) have been under development since the mid-1960s. Irradiation performance on early UO 2 and Th 0 . 8 U 0 . 2 O 2 kernels is described in this report, and the performance limitations associated with the dense oxide kernels are presented. The development of the new reference fuel kernel, the weak-acid-resin-derived (WAR) UO 2 --UC 2 , is discussed in detail, including an extensive section on the irradiation performance of this fuel in HFIR removable beryllium capsules HRB-7 through -10. The conclusion is reached that the irradiation performance of the WAR fissile fuel kernel is better than that of any coated particle fuel yet tested. Further, the present fissile kernel is adequate for steam cycle HTGRs as well as for many advanced applications such as gas turbine and process heat HTGRs

The SVM Method for Fissile Mass Estimation through Passive Neutron Interrogation: Advances and Developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubi, C.; Shvili, Israel I.

2014-01-01

Fissile mass estimation through passive neutron interrogation is now one of the main techniques for NDT of fissile mass estimation, due to the relative transparency of neutron radiation to structural materials- making it extremely effective in poorly characterized or dirty samples . Passive neutron interrogation relies on the fact that the number of neutrons emitted (per time unit) due to spontaneous fissions from the sample is proportional to the mass of the detected sample. However, since the measurement is effected by additional neutron sources- mainly (D±n) reactions and induced fission chain in the tested sample, a naive estimation, assuming a linear correspondence between the mass of the detected sample and the average number of detections, is bound to give an over estimation of the mass. Since most passive interrogation facilities are based on 3He detectors, the origin of the neutron cannot be determined by analyzing the energy spectrum (as all neutrons arrive at the detector in more or less the same energy), and a mathematical 'filter' is used to evaluate the noise to source ratio in the detection signal. The basic idea behind the mathematical filter is to utilize the fact that the different neutron sources have different statistical attributes- in particular, both the source event rate and the distribution of the number of neutrons released in each event differs between the different sources. There for, by studying the higher moments of the neutron population, new information about the source to noise ration may be obtained

The simultaneous neutron and photon interrogation method for fissile and non-fissile element separation in radioactive waste drums

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jallu, F.; Lyoussi, A.; Passard, C.; Payan, E.; Recroix, H.; Nurdin, G.; Buisson, A.; Allano, J.

2000-01-01

Measuring α-emitters such as ( 234,235,236,238 U, 238,239,240,242,244 Pu, 237 Np, 241,243 Am, ...), in solid radioactive waste allows us to quantify the α-activity in a drum and then to classify it. The simultaneous photon and neutron interrogation experiment (SIMPHONIE) method dealt with in this paper, combines both active neutron interrogation and induced photofission interrogation techniques simultaneously. Its purpose is to quantify fissile ( 235 U, 239,241 Pu, ...) and non-fissile ( 236,238 U, 238,240 Pu, ...) elements separately in only one measurement. This paper presents the principle of the method, the experimental setup, and the first experimental results obtained using the DGA/ETCA Linac and MiniLinatron pulsed linear electron accelerators located at Arcueil, France. First studies were carried out with U and Pu bare samples

Fissile material ban: global and non-discriminatory?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datt, Savita

1995-01-01

With the indefinite and unconditional extension of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) now out of the way, the next issue on the non-proliferation agenda is that of the existing stocks and further production of plutonium and weapons grade uranium. More than the existing stocks and the surplus fissile materials made available through arms control and disarmament measures, it is the further production of such materials which is sought to be tackled urgently. Of prime concern are the nuclear programmes of threshold countries like India, Pakistan and Israel (countries out of the NPT fold) which need to be capped at all costs. The best method of achieving this, it is believed can be through a global ban on the production of fissile materials. 15 refs

Attempt to enrich of a new spontaneous fissioning nuclide by evaporation of natural brine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamek, A.; Zhuravleva, E.L.; Constantinescu, M.; Constantinescu, o.; Chuburkov, Yu.T.

1983-01-01

The enrichment of the new spontaneous fissioning nuclide discovered in the Cheleken brine, was made by evaporation. The purpose of this work was the comparison of behaviour of the new spontaneous fissioning nuclide with that of the known elements in the formation processes of the high concentration brines. Spontaneous fission of the nuclide was measured by means of the counters for multiple emission of neutrons. It is shown that the new spontaneous fissioning nuclide was enriched as well as other trace elements (Hg, Tl, Bi and Pb) in a solution remained after the evaporation of the initial solution. The conclusion is drawn that from the sea water brines could be obtained by evaporation which are enriched in trace elements with an enrichment degree higher than the natural brines

Safeguards and security issues for the disposition of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Moya, R.W.; Duggan, R.A.; Mangan, D.L.; Tolk, K.M.; Rutherford, D.; Fearey, B.; Moore, L.

1995-01-01

The Department of Energy's Office of Fissile Material Disposition (FMD) is analyzing long-term storage and disposition options for surplus weapons-usable fissile materials, preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS), preparing for a record of decision (ROD) regarding this material and conducting other activities. The primary security objectives of this program are to reduce major security risks and strengthen arms reduction and nonproliferation (NP). To help achieve these objectives, a safeguards and security (S ampersand S) team consisting of participants from Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories was established. The S ampersand S activity for this program is a cross-cutting task which addresses all of the FMD program options. It includes both domestic and international safeguards and includes areas such as physical protection, nuclear materials accountability and material containment and surveillance. This paper will discuss the activities of the Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP) S ampersand S team as well as some specific S ampersand S issues associated with various FMDP options/facilities. Some of the items to be discussed include the threat, S ampersand S requirements, S ampersand S criteria for assessing risk, S ampersand S issues concerning fissile material processing/facilities, and international and domestic safeguards

Criticality Control Fissile of Materials. Proceedings of the Symposium on Criticality Control of Fissile Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1966-05-15

Criticality control comprises all the administrative and technical procedures which enable the storage and processing of fissile material to be carried out under conditions of nuclear safety. It is of particular importance in the safe design and operation of chemical and metallurgical plants processing fissile material, in the handling and storage of enriched fuel for reactors, and in transportation of fissile material. The growth of nuclear power, with its increasing use of fissile material and production of plutonium, is leading to an ever widening need for this discipline. This Symposium was held 4 Vulgar-Fraction-One-Half years after the only other international meeting on this topic, at which the first broad exchange of ideas and theories enabled a comparison to be drawn between the various ways in which the subject is handled in the different countries. That meeting showed that criticality safety was often achieved by procedures known to be ultra-safe, as there was a great lack of useful experimental data with which to check theoretical models. Since that time the quantities of material being processed have increased, and with the now urgent necessity of achieving economic, and hence commercially competitive, operation, the procedure of using arbitrary factors of safety is no longer adequate. Plant Managers now require good data on the basis of which they can choose a suitable factor of safety, and design a process to be safe under any foreseeable circumstances. The present Symposium showed the great increase in the amount of available experimental data and its importance in checking the now highly sophisticated computer calculations. There are many diagrams in these Proceedings with curves from which critical parameters for various configurations can be taken. The dearth of data for plutonium systems is causing some difficulty in plutonium processing plants, which are becoming commercially important. The excellent safety record of the atomic energy industry

Underground autocatalytic-criticality potential and its implications to weapons fissile- material disposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, J.-S.

1998-01-01

Several options for weapons fissile-material disposition, such as once-through mixed- oxide (MOX) fuel in reactors or immobilisation in waste glass, would result in end products requiring geologic disposal. The criticality potential of the fissile end products containing U-235 and Pu-239 and the associated consequences in a geologic setting are important considerations for the final disposal of these materials. The possibility of underground criticality, and especially autocatalytic criticality, is affected by (1) groundwater leaking into a failed waste container, (2) preferential leaching of neutron absorbers or of fissile material from a failed container, and (3) preferential deposition of fissile material in the surrounding rock. Bowman and Venneri have pointed out that fissile material mixed with varying compositions of water and silica can undergo a nuclear chain reaction. Some configurations can become autocatalytically supercritical resulting in considerable energy release, terminated finally by disassembly. Some reviews rejected the Bowman and Venneri warning as implausible because of low probabilities of scenarios that could lead to such configurations. Sanchez et al. reported possible supercritical conditions in systems of Pu-SiO 2 -H 2 O and Pu-tuff-H 2 O but concluded that the probability of forming such combinations is extremely low. Kastenberg et al. studied the potential for autocatalytic criticality of plutonium or highly enriched uranium in the proposed Yucca Mountain geologic repository. They concluded that plutonium or uranium could, theoretically, become supercritical, but that such criticality is unlikely given the hydrology, geology and geochemistry of the Yucca Mountain site. These studies are not definitive. The possibility of criticality exists. Detailed mechanisms have not been sufficiently studied for clear conclusions on the probabilities of occurrence. More technical analysis is needed to understand the potential for underground

Hardware implementation of the ORNL fissile mass flow monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McEvers, J.; Sumner, J.; Jones, R.; Ferrell, R.; Martin, C.; Uckan, T.; March-Leuba, J.

1998-01-01

This paper provides an overall description of the implementation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Fissile Mass Flow Monitor, which is part of a Blend Down Monitoring System (BDMS) developed by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The Fissile Mass Flow Monitor is designed to measure the mass flow of fissile material through a gaseous or liquid process stream. It consists of a source-modulator assembly, a detector assembly, and a cabinet that houses all control, data acquisition, and supporting electronics equipment. The development of this flow monitor was first funded by DOE/NE in September 95, and an initial demonstration by ORNL was described in previous INMM meetings. This methodology was chosen by DOE/NE for implementation in November 1996, and the hardware/software development is complete. Successful BDMS installation and operation of the complete BDMS has been demonstrated in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), which is operated by Lockheed Martin Utility Services, Inc. for the US Enrichment Corporation and regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Equipment for two BDMS units has been shipped to the Russian Federation

Electronuclear fissile fuel production. Linear accelerator fuel regenerator and producer LAFR and LAFP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinberg, M.; Powell, J.R.; Takahashi, H.; Grand, P.; Kouts, H.J.C.

1978-04-01

A linear accelerator fuel generator is proposed to enrich naturally occurring fertile U-238 or thorium 232 with fissile Pu-239 or U-233 for use in LWR power reactors. High energy proton beams in the range of 1 to 3 GeV energy are made to impinge on a centrally located dispersed liquid lead target producing spallation neutrons which are then absorbed by a surrounding assembly of fabricated LWR fuel elements. The accelerator-target design is reviewed and a typical fuel cycle system and economic analysis is presented. One 300 MW beam (300 ma-1 GeV) linear accelerator fuel regenerator can provide fuel for 3 to 1000 MW(e) LWR power reactors over its 30-year lifetime. There is a significant saving in natural uranium requirement which is a factor of 4.5 over the present LWR fuel requirement assuming the restraint of no fissile fuel recovery by reprocessing. A modest increase (approximately 10%) in fuel cycle and power production cost is incurred over the present LWR fuel cycle cost. The linear accelerator fuel regenerator and producer assures a long-term supply of fuel for the LWR power economy even with the restraint of the non-proliferation policy of no reprocessing. It can also supply hot-denatured thorium U-233 fuel operating in a secured reprocessing fuel center

IAEA safeguards for the Fissile Materials Disposition Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Close, D.A.

1995-06-01

This document is an overview of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and the basic requirements or elements of an IAEA safeguards regime. The primary objective of IAEA safeguards is the timely detection of the diversion of a significant quantity of material and the timely detection of undeclared activities. The two important components of IAEA safeguards to accomplish their primary objective are nuclear material accountancy and containment and surveillance. This overview provides guidance to the Fissile Materials Disposition Project for IAEA inspection requirements. IAEA requirements, DOE Orders, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations will be used as the basis for designing a safeguards and security system for the facilities recommended by the Fissile Materials Disposition Project

Spectrum analysis in lead spectrometer for isotopic fissile assay in used fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y.D.; Park, C.J.; Kim, H.D.; Song, K.C.

2014-01-01

The LSDS system is under development for analyzing isotopic fissile content applicable in a hot cell for the pyro process. The fuel assay area and nuclear material composition were selected for simulation. The source mechanism for efficient neutron generation was also determined. A neutron is produced at the Ta target by hitting it from accelerated electron. The parameters for an electron accelerator are being researched for cost effectiveness, easy maintenance, and compact size. The basic principle of LSDS is that isotopic fissile has its own fission structure below the unresolved resonance region. The source neutron interacts with a lead medium and produces continuous neutron energy, which generates dominant fission at each fissile. Therefore, a spectrum analysis is very important at a lead medium and fuel area for system working. The energy spectrum with respect to slowing down energy and the energy resolution were investigated in lead. A spectrum analysis was done by the existence of surrounding detectors. In particular, high resonance energy was considered. The spectrum was well organized at each slowing down energy and the energy resolution was acceptable to distinguish isotopic fissile fissions. Additionally, LSDS is applicable for the optimum design of spent fuel storage and management.The isotopic fissile content assay will increase the transparency and credibility for spent fuel storage and its re-utilization, as demanded internationally. (author)

Update to the Fissile Materials Disposition program SST/SGT transportation estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John Didlake

1999-01-01

This report is an update to ''Fissile Materials Disposition Program SST/SGT Transportation Estimation,'' SAND98-8244, June 1998. The Department of Energy Office of Fissile Materials Disposition requested this update as a basis for providing the public with an updated estimation of the number of transportation loads, load miles, and costs associated with the preferred alternative in the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Systems analysis and simulation of fissile materials disposition alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farish, T.J.; Farmen, R.F.; Boerigter, S.T.; DeMuth, N.S.

1996-01-01

A detailed process flow model has been developed for use in the Fissile Materials Disposition program. The model calculates fissile material flows and inventories among the various processing and storage facilities over the life of the disposition program. Given existing inventories and schedules for processing, we can estimate the required size of processing and storage facilities, including equipment requirements, plant floorspace, approximate costs, and surge capacities. The model was designed to allow rapid prototyping, parallel and team development of facility and sub-facility models, consistent levels of detail and the use of a library of generic objects representing unit process operations

Fissile fuel assembly for a sub-moderated nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millot, J.P.; Dejeux, Pol.; Alibran, Patrice.

1983-01-01

Each of the core assemblies is composed of a prismatic case made of a neutron absorbing material, inside which very long rods containing the fissile material are arranged parallel to the height of the case and according to a regular network in the straight sections of the case. At least one piece in a fertile material exposed to the neutrons emitted by the fissile material of the assembly is arranged on each one of the side faces of the case. The invention applies in particular to sub-moderated reactors, cooled and moderated by pressurized water [fr

Non-proliferation, safeguards, and security for the fissile materials disposition program immobilization alternatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duggan, R.A.; Jaeger, C.D.; Tolk, K.M. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Moore, L.R. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1996-05-01

The Department of Energy is analyzing long-term storage and disposition alternatives for surplus weapons-usable fissile materials. A number of different disposition alternatives are being considered. These include facilities for storage, conversion and stabilization of fissile materials, immobilization in glass or ceramic material, fabrication of fissile material into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for reactors, use of reactor based technologies to convert material into spent fuel, and disposal of fissile material using geologic alternatives. This paper will focus on how the objectives of reducing security and proliferation risks are being considered, and the possible facility impacts. Some of the areas discussed in this paper include: (1) domestic and international safeguards requirements, (2) non-proliferation criteria and measures, (3) the threats, and (4) potential proliferation, safeguards, and security issues and impacts on the facilities. Issues applicable to all of the possible disposition alternatives will be discussed in this paper. However, particular attention is given to the plutonium immobilization alternatives.

Detector and front-end electronics of a fissile mass flow monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paulus, M.J.; Uckan, T.; Lenarduzzi, R.; Mullens, J.A.; Castleberry, K.N.; McMillan, D.E.; Mihalczo, J.T.

1997-01-01

A detector and front-end electronics unit with secure data transmission has been designed and implemented for a fissile mass flow monitoring system for fissile mass flow of gases and liquids in a pipe. The unit consists of 4 bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation detectors, pulse-shaping and counting electronics, local temperature sensors, and on-board local area network nodes which locally acquire data and report to the master computer via a secure network link. The signal gain of the pulse-shaping circuitry and energy windows of the pulse-counting circuitry are periodicially self calibrated and self adjusted in situ using a characteristic line in the fissile material pulse height spectrum as a reference point to compensate for drift such as in the detector gain due to PM tube aging. The temperature- dependent signal amplitude variations due to the intrinsic temperature coefficients of the PM tube gain and BGO scintillation efficiency have been characterized and real-time gain corrections introduced. The detector and electronics design, measured intrinsic performance of the detectors and electronics, and the performance of the detector and electronics within the fissile mass flow monitoring system are described

Separation of silicon carbide-coated fertile and fissile particles by gas classification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaughen, V.C.A.

1976-07-01

The separation of 235 U and 233 U in the reprocessing of HTGR fuels is a key feature of the feed-breed fuel cycle concept. This is attained in the Fort St. Vrain (FSV) reactor by coating the fissile (Th- 235 U) particles and the fertile (Th- 233 U) particles separately with silicon carbide (SiC) layers to contain the fission products and to protect the kernels from burning in the head-end reprocessing steps. Pneumatic (gas) classification based on size and density differences is the reference process for separating the SiC-coated particles into fissile and fertile streams for subsequent handling. Terminal velocities have been calculated for the +- 2 sigma ranges of particle sizes and densities for ''Fissile B''--''Fertile A'' particles used in the FSV reactor. Because of overlapping particle fractions, a continuous pneumatic separator appears infeasible; however, a batch separation process can be envisioned. Changing the gas from air to CO 2 and/or the temperature to 300 0 C results in less than 10 percent change in calculated terminal velocities. Recently reported work in gas classification is discussed in light of the theoretical calculations. The pneumatic separation of fissile and fertile particles needs more study, specifically with regard to (1) measuring the recoveries and separation efficiencies of actual fissile and fertile fractions in the tests of the pneumatic classifiers; and (2) improving the contactor design or flowsheet to avoid apparent flow separation or flooding problems at the feed point when using the feed rates required for the pilot plant

Mathematical model for choosing the nuclear safe matrix compositions for fissile material immobilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorshtein, A.I.; Matyunin, Yu.I.; Poluehktov, P.P.

2000-01-01

A mathematical model is proposed for preliminary choice of the nuclear safe matrix compositions for fissile material immobilization. The IBM PC computer software for nuclear safe matrix composition calculations is developed. The limiting concentration of fissile materials in the some used and perspective nuclear safe matrix compositions for radioactive waste immobilization is calculated [ru

R ampersand D plan for immobilization technologies: fissile materials disposition program. Revision 1.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, H.F.; Armantrout, G.A.

1996-09-01

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the US and Russia have agreed to large reductions in nuclear weapons. To aid in the selection of long- term fissile material management options, the Department of Energy's Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP) is conducting studies of options for the storage and disposition of surplus plutonium (Pu). One set of alternatives for disposition involve immobilization. The immobilization alternatives provide for fixing surplus fissile materials in a host matrix in order to create a solid disposal form that is nuclear criticality-safe, proliferation-resistant and environmentally acceptable for long-term storage or disposal

Fissile material detection and control facility with pulsed neutron sources and digital data processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romodanov, V.L.; Chernikova, D.N.; Afanasiev, V.V.

2010-01-01

Full text: In connection with possible nuclear terrorism, there is long-felt need of devices for effective control of radioactive and fissile materials in the key points of crossing the state borders (airports, seaports, etc.), as well as various customs check-points. In International Science and Technology Center Projects No. 596 and No. 2978, a new physical method and digital technology have been developed for the detection of fissile and radioactive materials in models of customs facilities with a graphite moderator, pulsed neutron source and digital processing of responses from scintillation PSD detectors. Detectability of fissile materials, even those shielded with various radiation-absorbing screens, has been shown. The use of digital processing of scintillation signals in this facility is a necessary element, as neutrons and photons are discriminated in the time dependence of fissile materials responses at such loads on the electronic channels that standard types of spectrometers are inapplicable. Digital processing of neutron and photon responses practically resolves the problem of dead time and allows implementing devices, in which various energy groups of neutrons exist for some time after a pulse of source neutrons. Thus, it is possible to detect fissile materials deliberately concealed with shields having a large cross-section of absorption of photons and thermal neutrons. Two models of detection and the control of fissile materials were advanced: 1. the model based on graphite neutrons moderator and PSD scintillators with digital technology of neutrons and photons responses separation; 2. the model based on plastic scintillators and detecting of time coincidences of fission particles by digital technology. Facilities that count time coincidences of neutrons and photons occurring in the fission of fissile materials can use an Am Li source of neutrons, e.g. that is the case with the AWCC system. The disadvantages of the facility are related to the issues

On nature of spontaneous elongation of polymers preliminarily stretched in adsorption-active media under irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinevich, E.A.; Prazdnichnyj, A.M.; Tikhomirov, V.S.; Bakeev, N.F.

1989-01-01

The nature of the spontaneous elongation under irradiation with fast electrons of polymers preliminary stretched in adsorption-active media has been studied. This effect is related with radiation-induced heating of microporous polymer samples. Its manifestation in amorphous PETP requires the presence of crazes having well developed microfibrillar structure. The spontaneous elongation effect is shown to be a result of crystallization of partially oriented material in transitional regions relating the oriented material of microfibrils inside crazes with nonstrained polymer between them

Detection of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers with radioactive waste

Science.gov (United States)

Batyaev, V. F.; Skliarov, S. V.

2018-01-01

The paper is devoted to non-destructive control of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW). The aim of this work is to model an active neutron interrogation facility for detection of fissile ma-terials inside NZK type containers with RAW and determine the minimal detectable mass of U-235 as a function of various param-eters: matrix type, nonuniformity of container filling, neutron gen-erator parameters (flux, pulse frequency, pulse duration), meas-urement time. As a result the dependence of minimal detectable mass on fissile materials location inside container is shown. Nonu-niformity of the thermal neutron flux inside a container is the main reason of the space-heterogeneity of minimal detectable mass in-side a large-sized container. Our experiments with tiny amounts of uranium-235 (<1 g) confirm the detection of fissile materials in NZK containers by using active neutron interrogation technique.

Detection of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers with radioactive waste

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batyaev V.F.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to non-destructive control of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW. The aim of this work is to model an active neutron interrogation facility for detection of fissile ma-terials inside NZK type containers with RAW and determine the minimal detectable mass of U-235 as a function of various param-eters: matrix type, nonuniformity of container filling, neutron gen-erator parameters (flux, pulse frequency, pulse duration, meas-urement time. As a result the dependence of minimal detectable mass on fissile materials location inside container is shown. Nonu-niformity of the thermal neutron flux inside a container is the main reason of the space-heterogeneity of minimal detectable mass in-side a large-sized container. Our experiments with tiny amounts of uranium-235 (<1 g confirm the detection of fissile materials in NZK containers by using active neutron interrogation technique.

Recommended nuclear criticality safety experiments in support of the safe transportation of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tollefson, D.A.; Elliott, E.P.; Dyer, H.R.; Thompson, S.A.

1993-01-01

Validation of computer codes and nuclear data (cross-section) libraries using benchmark quality critical (or certain subcritical) experiments is an essential part of a nuclear criticality safety evaluation. The validation results establish the credibility of the calculational tools for use in evaluating a particular application. Validation of the calculational tools is addressed in several American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS) standards, with ANSI/ANS-8.1 being the most relevant. Documentation of the validation is a required part of all safety analyses involving significant quantities of fissile materials. In the case of transportation of fissile materials, the safety analysis report for packaging (SARP) must contain a thorough discussion of benchmark experiments, detailing how the experiments relate to the significant packaging and contents materials (fissile, moderating, neutron absorbing) within the package. The experiments recommended in this paper are needed to address certain areas related to transportation of unirradiated fissile materials in drum-type containers (packagings) for which current data are inadequate or are lacking

Modeling of fissile material diversion in solvent extraction cascades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, A.; Carlson, R.W.

1980-01-01

Changes were calculated for measurable parameters of a solvent extraction section of a reprocessing plant resulting from postulated fissile material diversion actions. The computer program SEPHIS was modified to calculate the time-dependent concentrations of uranium and plutonium in each stage of a cascade. The calculation of the inventories of uranium and plutonium in each contactor was also included. The concentration and inventory histories were computed for a group of four sequential columns during start-up and for postulated diversion conditions within this group of columns. Monitoring of column exit streams or of integrated column inventories for fissile materials could provide qualitative indications of attempted diversions. However, the time delays and resulting changes are complex and do not correlate quantitatively with the magnitude of the initiating event

Calibration measurements using the ORNL fissile mass flow monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

March-Leuba, J.; Uckan, T.; Sumner, J.; Mattingly, J.; Mihalczo, J.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a demonstration of fissile-mass-flow measurements using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Fissile Mass Flow Monitor in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). This Flow Monitor is part of a Blend Down Monitoring System (BDMS) that will be installed in at least two Russian Federation (R.F.) blending facilities. The key objectives of the demonstration of the ORNL Flow Monitor are two: (a) demonstrate that the ORNL Flow Monitor equipment is capable of reliably monitoring the mass flow rate of 235 UF 6 gas, and (b) provide a demonstration of ORNL Flow Monitor system in operation with UF 6 flow for a visiting R.F. delegation. These two objectives have been met by the PGDP demonstration, as presented in this paper

Fissility of actinide nuclei induced by 60-130 MeV photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morcelle, Viviane; Tavares, Odilon A.P.

2004-06-01

Nuclear fissilities obtained from recent photofission reaction cross section measurements carried out at Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory (Saskatoon, Canada) in the energy range 60-130 MeV for 232 Th, 233 U, 235 U, 238 U, and 237 Np nuclei have been analysed in a systematic way. To this aim, a semiempirical approach has been developed based on the quasi-deuteron nuclear photoabsorption model followed by the process of competition between neutron evaporation and fission for the excited nucleus. The study reproduces satisfactorily well the increasing trend of nuclear fissility with parameter Z 2 =A. (author)

Local tissue distribution of fissile nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J.M.

1981-01-01

Conventional tissue-section autoradiography of alpha-emitting actinide elements may require prohibitively long exposure times. Neutron-induced or fission-track autoradiography can be used for fissile nuclides such as 233 U, 235 U, and 239 Pu to circumvent this difficulty. The detection limit for these nuclides is about 4 x 10 -13 (weight fraction). This paper describes a specific technique for determining their microdistribution with histologically stained tissue sections

Recovery of fissile materials from nuclear wastes

Science.gov (United States)

Forsberg, Charles W.

1999-01-01

A process for recovering fissile materials such as uranium, and plutonium, and rare earth elements, from complex waste feed material, and converting the remaining wastes into a waste glass suitable for storage or disposal. The waste feed is mixed with a dissolution glass formed of lead oxide and boron oxide resulting in oxidation, dehalogenation, and dissolution of metal oxides. Carbon is added to remove lead oxide, and a boron oxide fusion melt is produced. The fusion melt is essentially devoid of organic materials and halogens, and is easily and rapidly dissolved in nitric acid. After dissolution, uranium, plutonium and rare earth elements are separated from the acid and recovered by processes such as PUREX or ion exchange. The remaining acid waste stream is vitrified to produce a waste glass suitable for storage or disposal. Potential waste feed materials include plutonium scrap and residue, miscellaneous spent nuclear fuel, and uranium fissile wastes. The initial feed materials may contain mixtures of metals, ceramics, amorphous solids, halides, organic material and other carbon-containing material.

An approximate method to estimate the minimum critical mass of fissile nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, R.Q.; Jordan, W.C.

1999-01-01

When evaluating systems in criticality safety, it is important to approximate the answer before any analysis is performed. There is currently interest in establishing the minimum critical parameters for fissile actinides. The purpose is to describe the OB-1 method for estimating the minimum critical mass for thermal systems based on one-group calculations and 235 U spheres fully reflected by water. The observation is made that for water-moderated, well-thermalized systems, the transport and leakage from the system are dominated by water. Under these conditions two fissile mixtures will have nearly the same critical volume provided the infinite media multiplication factor (k ∞ ) for the two systems is the same. This observation allows for very simple estimates of critical concentration and mass as a function of the hydrogen-to-fissile (H/X) moderation ratio by comparison to the known 235 U system

Neutronic studies of fissile and fusile breeding blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taczanowski, S.

1984-08-01

In light of the need of convincing motivation substantiating expensive and inherently applied research (nuclear energy), first a simple comparative study of fissile breeding economics of fusion fission hybrids, spallators and also fast breeder reactors has been carried out. As a result, the necessity of maximization of fissile production (in the first two ones, in fast breeders rather the reprocessing costs should be reduced) has been shown, thus indicating the design strategy (high support ratio) for these systems. In spite of the uncertainty of present projections onto further future and discrepancies in available data even quite conservative assumptions indicate that hybrids and perhaps even earlier - spallators can become economic at realistic uranium price increase and successfully compete against fast breeders. Then on the basis of the concept of the neutron flux shaping aimed at the correlation of the selected cross-sections with the neutron flux, the indications for the maximization of respective reaction rates has been formulated. In turn, these considerations serve as the starting point for the guidelines of breeding blanket nuclear design, which are as follows: 1) The source neutrons must face the multiplying layer (of proper thickness) of possibly low concentration of nuclides attenuating the neutron multiplication (i.e. structure materials, nongaseous coolants). 2) For the most effective trapping of neutrons within the breeding zone (leakage and void streaming reduction) it must contain an efficient moderator (not valid for fissile breeding blankets). 3) All regions of significant slow flux should contain 6 Li in order to reduce parasite neutron captures in there. (orig./HP)

Implementation of the Fissile Mass Flow Monitor Source Verification and Confirmation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uckan, Taner [ORNL; March-Leuba, Jose A [ORNL; Powell, Danny H [ORNL; Nelson, Dennis [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL); Radev, Radoslav [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

2007-12-01

This report presents the verification procedure for neutron sources installed in U.S. Department of Energy equipment used to measure fissile material flow. The Fissile Mass Flow Monitor (FMFM) equipment determines the {sup 235}U fissile mass flow of UF{sub 6} gas streams by using {sup 252}Cf neutron sources for fission activation of the UF{sub 6} gas and by measuring the fission products in the flow. The {sup 252}Cf sources in each FMFM are typically replaced every 2 to 3 years due to their relatively short half-life ({approx} 2.65 years). During installation of the new FMFM sources, the source identity and neutronic characteristics provided by the manufacturer are verified with the following equipment: (1) a remote-control video television (RCTV) camera monitoring system is used to confirm the source identity, and (2) a neutron detection system (NDS) is used for source-strength confirmation. Use of the RCTV and NDS permits remote monitoring of the source replacement process and eliminates unnecessary radiation exposure. The RCTV, NDS, and the confirmation process are described in detail in this report.

Implementation of the Fissile Mass Flow Monitor Source Verification and Confirmation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uckan, Taner; March-Leuba, Jose A.; Powell, Danny H.; Nelson, Dennis; Radev, Radoslav

2007-01-01

This report presents the verification procedure for neutron sources installed in U.S. Department of Energy equipment used to measure fissile material flow. The Fissile Mass Flow Monitor (FMFM) equipment determines the 235 U fissile mass flow of UF 6 gas streams by using 252 Cf neutron sources for fission activation of the UF 6 gas and by measuring the fission products in the flow. The 252 Cf sources in each FMFM are typically replaced every 2 to 3 years due to their relatively short half-life (∼ 2.65 years). During installation of the new FMFM sources, the source identity and neutronic characteristics provided by the manufacturer are verified with the following equipment: (1) a remote-control video television (RCTV) camera monitoring system is used to confirm the source identity, and (2) a neutron detection system (NDS) is used for source-strength confirmation. Use of the RCTV and NDS permits remote monitoring of the source replacement process and eliminates unnecessary radiation exposure. The RCTV, NDS, and the confirmation process are described in detail in this report.

Implementation of safeguards and security for fissile materials disposition reactor alternative facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Duggan, R.A.; Tolk, K.M.

1995-01-01

A number of different disposition alternatives are being considered and include facilities which provide for long-ten-n and interim storage, convert and stabilize fissile materials for other disposition alternatives, immobilize fissile material in glass and/or ceramic material, fabricate fissile material into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for reactors, use reactor based technologies to convert material into spent fuel, and dispose of fissile material using a number of geologic alternatives. Particular attention will be given to the reactor alternatives which include existing, partially completed, advanced or evolutionary LWRs and CANDU reactors. The various reactor alternatives are all very similar and include processing which converts Pu to a usable form for fuel fabrication, a MOX fuel fab facility located in either the US or in Europe, US LWRs or the CANDU reactors and ultimate disposal of spent fuel in a geologic repository. This paper focuses on how the objectives of reducing security risks and strengthening arms reduction and nonproliferation will be accomplished and the possible impacts of meeting these objectives on facility operations and design. Some of the areas in this paper include: (1) domestic and international safeguards requirements, (2) non-proliferation criteria and measures, (3) the threat, and (4) potential proliferation risks, the impacts on the facilities, and safeguards and security issues unique to the presence of Category 1 or strategic special nuclear material

Requirements for timber and cadmium used in shielding for fissile material transport packaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-02-01

This Code of Practice has been prepared as a guide for designers who require packaging for fissile materials. It should be noted that this document covers design requirements only and it is not a manufacturing specification which can be quoted on a manufacturing contract without qualification. Compliance with the regulations regarding the safe transport of fissile materials may be achieved by the provision of an effective shield embodying:- (a) a moderating material -usually one rich in hydrogen, such as wood - in order to thermalise incoming neutrons, and (b) a material - such as cadmium - with a large absorption cross-section for thermal neutrons, located between the moderator and the fissile material, in order to capture the incoming neutrons. This Code describes the requirements in two sections, one for each of these materials. (author)

Temperature Profile of the Solution Vessel of an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Fissile Solution System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, Steven Karl [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Determan, John C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-09-14

Dynamic System Simulation (DSS) models of fissile solution systems have been developed and verified against a variety of historical configurations. DSS techniques have been applied specifically to subcritical accelerator-driven systems using fissile solution fuels of uranium. Initial DSS models were developed in DESIRE, a specialized simulation scripting language. In order to tailor the DSS models to specifically meet needs of system designers they were converted to a Visual Studio implementation, and one of these subsequently to National Instrument’s LabVIEW for human factors engineering and operator training. Specific operational characteristics of subcritical accelerator-driven systems have been examined using a DSS model tailored to this particular class using fissile fuel.

Temperature Profile of the Solution Vessel of an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Fissile Solution System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, Steven Karl; Determan, John C.

2015-01-01

Dynamic System Simulation (DSS) models of fissile solution systems have been developed and verified against a variety of historical configurations. DSS techniques have been applied specifically to subcritical accelerator-driven systems using fissile solution fuels of uranium. Initial DSS models were developed in DESIRE, a specialized simulation scripting language. In order to tailor the DSS models to specifically meet needs of system designers they were converted to a Visual Studio implementation, and one of these subsequently to National Instrument's LabVIEW for human factors engineering and operator training. Specific operational characteristics of subcritical accelerator-driven systems have been examined using a DSS model tailored to this particular class using fissile fuel.

Screening of IAEA environmental samples for fissile material content

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hembree, Doyle M. Jr.; Carter, Joel A.; Devault, Gerald L.; Whitaker, J. Michael; Glasgow, David

2001-01-01

Full text: Analysis of environmental samples for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Strengthened Safeguards Systems program requires that stringent measures be taken to control contamination. To facilitate contamination control, it is extremely useful to have some estimate of the fissile content of a given sample prior to beginning sample preparation and analysis. This is particularly true for laboratories that employ clean rooms during sample preparation. A review of the analytical results for samples submitted between January 1, 1999 and September 1, 2000 revealed that the total uranium content values ranged from 0.2 to greater than 500,000 ng/sample. Poor estimates of the uranium or plutonium content in the samples have caused some of the laboratories in the IAEA Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) to experience clean laboratory contamination, sample cross contamination, and non-ideal uranium spike additions. This has led to significant increases in analysis costs (e.g., recertification of clean rooms after removing contamination, and rerunning samples) and degradation in data quality. A number of methods have been proposed for screening environmental samples for fissile material content, including gamma spectrometry, x-ray fluorescence, kinetic phosphorimetry (KPA), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Gamma spectrometry and x-ray fluorescence are suitable for screening samples with microgram or greater quantities of uranium. ICP-MS and KPA are used successfully in some DOE NWAL laboratories to screen environmental samples. A neutron activation analysis (NAA) method that offers numerous advantages over other screening techniques for environmental samples has recently been proposed. Fissile materials such as 239 Pu and 235 U can be made to undergo fission in the intense neutron field to which they are exposed during neutron activation analysis (NAA). Some of the fission products emit neutrons referred to as 'delayed

The burnable poisons utilization for fissile enriched CANDU fuel bundle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serghiuta, D; Nainer, O [Team 3 Solutions, Don Mills, ON (Canada)

1996-12-31

Utilization of burnable poison for the fissile enriched fueled CANDU 6 Mk1 core is investigated. The main incentives for this analysis are the reduction of void reactivity effects, the maximization of the fissile content of fresh fuel bundles, and the achievement of better power shape control, in order to preserve the power envelope of the standard 37 rod fuel bundle. The latter allows also the preservation of construction parameters of the standard core (for example: number and location of reactivity devices). It also permits the use of regular shift fueling schemes. The paper makes analyses of MOX weapons-grade plutonium and 1.2% SEU fueled CANDU 6 Mk 1 cores. (author). 6 refs., 4 tabs., 10 figs.

Fissile materials principles of criticality safety in handling and processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

This Swedish Standard consists of the English version of the International Standard ISO 1709-1975-Nuclear energy. Fissile materials. Principles of criticality safety in handling and processing. (author)

Contribution to fissile materials transportation in transit storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Teresinha de Moraes da

2005-01-01

The national and international standards for the transportation of fissile materials establish two indexes: Transport Index (Tl) and Criticality Safety Index (ISC). Besides, in non-exclusive transit, the largest of these indexes cannot overtake the value 50. Considering several groups to be transported, the sum of the transportation indexes cannot overtake 200 and the distance between them should be 6 meters This work aimed, as a primary target, to verify when an index is superior to another, in relation to the fissile materials studied, i.e., uranium oxides UO 2 , U 3 O 8 and uranium silicide U 3 Si 2 , taking into account the different enrichment grades. The result found is that the criticality safety index is always greater. As a second goal, it was tried to verify if there is any alteration in the case of these compounds aging process, i.e., alteration in transport index (Tl) due to gamma radiation of daughters radioisotopes in secular equilibrium. No alteration, was verified as the daughters contribution although considerable related to the transport index is very small concerning the criticality safety index. As a third target, it was tried to justify a distance equal to 6 meters, between each group of fissile material. The result showed that, in air media, the distance of 1 meter is sufficient, except for the UO 2 compound at 100% of enrichment, which reaches 2 meter while in the water means the distance of 40cm is enough for the compounds studied. This fact is of great importance when the cost of the necessary area in the transportation and storage is taken into consideration. (author)

Revisited. Euratom's ownership of special fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelzer, Norbert

2015-01-01

Among all Treaties on the Foundation of the European Community, seemingly, the Euratom Treaty ist the most unobtrusive one having even nearly been declared dead occasionally. For the opponents of nuclear energy the treaty is a thorn in their side because it aims for the peaceful exploitation of nuclear energy. Actually, the treaty likewise aims for the protection of dangers of nuclear energy and encloses a bundle of collective control instruments. The protective purpose provides the community with a strong position in numerous fields towards nuclear energy users including the right to intervene in the operations of nuclear facilities. The communitie's position is further strengthened by the communitie's ownership on special fissile materials. The EAEC Treaty determines: 'Special fissile materials are owned by the community'. The material content of Euratom's ownership is limited by Article 87 of the EAEC Treaty: Unlimited right of use and consumption is granted to the properly possessors unless obligations of the Euratom Treaty oppose. Inherently, the community does not have these rights. It was asked what would be left to the owner Euratom if the properly possessor is entitled to unlimited right of use and even right of consumption.

Fissile materials detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumesnil, P.

1977-03-01

Description is given of three types of apparatus intended for controlling fossile materials in view of avoiding their diversion or preventing said products to be mixed to less dangerous radioactive wastes. The gantry-type apparatus is intended for the detection of small masses of fissile materials moving through a crossing place; the neutron gantry consists of helium 3 detectors of the type 150NH100, located inside polyethylene blocks; as for the gamma gantry, it consists of two large plastic scintillators integrated to the vertical legs of said gantry. The second apparatus is a high-efficiency detector intended for controlling Pu inside waste casks. It can detect 10mg of Pu inside a 100 liters drum for one minute counting. The third apparatus intended for persons and things monitoring is still on study. Such as the gantries it is based on sampled measurement of the background noise [fr

Development and production of Zenith fissile elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

George, D; Wheatley, C C.H.; Lloyd, H

1959-06-15

The development of a new glass-bonded alumina-uranium oxide composition forming the fissile component of the Zenith fuel elements is described, together with the production of the initial charge containing 15 Kg. of U{sub 235]; the composition is capable of retaining fission product gases at high temperatures. The description includes criticality considerations, details of manufacture, and production statistics of the 11,000 discs produced.

Criticality Safety in the Handling of Fissile Material. Specific Safety Guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2014-05-15

This Safety Guide provides guidance and recommendations on how to meet the relevant requirements for ensuring subcriticality when dealing with fissile material and for planning the response to criticality accidents. The guidance and recommendations are applicable to both regulatory bodies and operating organizations. The objectives of criticality safety are to prevent a self-sustained nuclear chain reaction and to minimize the consequences of this if it were to occur. The Safety Guide makes recommendations on how to ensure subcriticality in systems involving fissile materials during normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, and, in the case of accident conditions, within design basis accidents, from initial design through commissioning, operation, and decommissioning and disposal.

Assessment and recommendations for fissile-material packaging exemptions and general licenses within 10 CFR Part 71

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parks, C.V.; Hopper, C.M.; Lichtenwalter, J.L.

1998-07-01

This report provides a technical and regulatory assessment of the fissile material general licenses and fissile material exemptions within Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 71. The assessment included literature studies and calculational analyses to evaluate the technical criteria; review of current industry practice and concerns; and a detailed evaluation of the regulatory text for clarity, consistency and relevance. Recommendations for potential consideration by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff are provided. The recommendations call for a simplification and consolidation of the general licenses and a change in the technical criteria for the first fissile material exemptions

What should ''damaged'' mean in air transport of fissile packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luna, R.E.; Falci, F.P.; Blackman, D.

1995-01-01

It is likely that the ongoing process to produce the 1996 version of the IAEA Regulation for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials, IAEA Safety Series 6(SS 6) will result in a more stringent package qualification standard for air transport of large quantities of radioactive materials (RAM) than is included in the 1990 version. During the process to define the scope of the new requirements there was extensive discussion of their impact on, and application to, fissile material package qualification criteria. Since fissile materials are shipped in a variety of packagings ranging from exempt to Type B, each packaging of each type must be evaluated for its ability to maintain subcriticality both alone and in arrays and in both damaged and undamaged condition. In the 1990 version of SS 6 ''damaged'' means the condition of a package after it had undergone the ''tests for demonstrating the ability to withstand accident conditions in transport,'' i.e., Type B qualification tests. These tests conditions are typical of severe accidents in surface modes, but are less severe than air mode qualification test environments to be applied to Type C packages. As a result, questions arose about the need for a corresponding change in the 1996 SS 6 to define ''damaged'' to include the Type C test regime for criticality evaluations of fissile packages in air transport

Standard problem exercise to validate criticality codes for large arrays of packages of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitesides, G.E.; Stephens, M.E.

1986-01-01

A study has been conducted by an Office of Economic Cooperation and Development-Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (OECD-CSNI) Working Group that examined computational methods used to compute k/sub eff/ for large greater than or equal to5 3 arrays of fissile material (in which each unit is a substantial fraction of a critical mass). Five fissile materials that might typically be transported were used in the study. The ''packages'' used for this exercise were simplified to allow studies unperturbed by the variety of structural materials which would exist in an actual package. The only material present other than the fissile material was a variation in the moderator (water) surrounding the fissile material. Consistent results were obtained from calculations using several computational methods. That is, when the bias demonstrated by each method for actual critical experiments was used to ''correct'' the results obtained for systems for which there were no experimental data, there was good agreement between the methods. Two major areas of concern were raised by this exercise. First, the lack of experimental data for arrays with size greater than 5 3 limits validation for large systems. Second, there is a distinct possibility that the comingling of two shipments of unlike units could result in a reduction of the safety margins. Additional experiments and calculations will be required to satisfactorily resolve the remaining questions regarding the safe transport of large arrays of fissile materials

Human chorionic gonadotropin-administered natural cycle versus spontaneous ovulatory cycle in patients undergoing two pronuclear zygote frozen-thawed embryo transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, You-Jung; Kim, Chung-Hoon; Kim, Do-Young; Ahn, Jun-Woo; Kim, Sung-Hoon; Chae, Hee-Dong; Kang, Byung-Moon

2018-03-01

To compare human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)-administered natural cycle with spontaneous ovulatory cycle in patients undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FTET) in natural cycles. In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed the clinical outcome of a total of 166 consecutive FTET cycles that were performed in either natural cycle controlled by HCG for ovulation triggering (HCG group, n=110) or natural cycle with spontaneous ovulation (control group, n=56) in 166 infertile patients between January 2009 and November 2013. There were no differences in patients' characteristics between the 2 groups. The numbers of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes, fertilized oocytes, grade I or II embryos and frozen embryos in the previous in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle in which embryos were frozen were comparable between the HCG and control groups. Significant differences were not also observed between the 2 groups in clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), embryo implantation rate, miscarriage rate, live birth rate and multiple CPR. However, the number of hospital visits for follicular monitoring was significantly fewer in the HCG group than in the control group ( P cycle reduces the number of hospital visits for follicular monitoring without any detrimental effect on FTET outcome when compared with spontaneous ovulatory cycles in infertile patients undergoing FTET in natural ovulatory cycles.

Comment on the interpretation and application of limiting critical concentrations of fissile nuclides in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clayton, E.D.; Durst, B.M.

1977-01-01

Calculations of the infinite multiplication factor for aqueous homogeneous mixtures of mixed oxides of plutonium and natural uranium at low fissile concentrations (7 g Pu/l) disclose a maximum to occur in the value of k/sub infinity/ at a weight fraction, Pu/(Pu + U), of approximately 0.0035. With mixed oxide solutions containing 7 g Pu/l, the value of k/sub infinity/ is estimated to be nearly 1.04, whereas in the absence of the natural uranium, the maximum value of k/sub infinity/ at 7 g Pu/l in water is approximately 4% less or near unity. The occurrence of this peak in value of k/sub infinity/ is due to the 235 U content in the natural uranium. Thus, in the presence of natural uranium, it should be borne in mind that the limiting subcritical concentration of plutonium (given as 7.0 g Pu/l) in water must be reduced to values <7.0 g Pu/l to ensure subcriticality of the mixture

1980 Annual status report: fissile materials control and management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

The R and D activities of the JRC in the field of Fissile Material Control and Management are oriented to the development of safeguards systems in the European Community nuclear fuel cycle and to provide means for a more efficient nuclear material management within the nuclear industry

Evaluation of Glass Density to Support the Estimation of Fissile Mass Loadings from Iron Concentrations in SB6 Glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edwards, T.; Peeler, D.

2010-12-15

The Department of Energy - Savannah River (DOE-SR) previously provided direction to Savannah River Remediation (SRR) to maintain fissile concentration in glass below 897 g/m{sup 3}. In support of the guidance, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) provided a technical basis and a supporting Microsoft{reg_sign} Excel{reg_sign} spreadsheet for the evaluation of fissile loading in Sludge Batch 5 glass based on the Fe concentration in glass as determined by the measurements from the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) acceptability analysis. SRR has since requested that SRNL provide the necessary information to allow SRR to update the Excel spreadsheet so that it may be used to maintain fissile concentration in glass below 897 g/m{sup 3} during the processing of Sludge Batch 6 (SB6). One of the primary inputs into the fissile loading spreadsheet includes a bounding density for SB6-based glasses. Based on the measured density data of select SB6 variability study glasses, SRNL recommends that SRR utilize the 99/99 Upper Tolerance Limit (UTL) density value at 38% WL (2.823 g/cm{sup 3}) as a bounding density for SB6 glasses to assess the fissile concentration in this glass system. That is, the 2.823 g/cm{sup 3} is recommended as a key (and fixed) input into the fissile concentration spreadsheet for SB6 processing. It should be noted that no changes are needed to the underlying structure of the Excel based spreadsheet to support fissile assessments for SB6. However, SRR should update the other key inputs to the spreadsheet that are based on fissile and Fe concentrations reported from the SB6 Waste Acceptance Product Specification (WAPS) sample. The purpose of this technical report is to present the density measurements that were determined for the SB6 variability study glasses and to conduct a statistical evaluation of these measurements to provide a bounding density value that may be used as input to the Excel{reg_sign} spreadsheet to be employed by SRR to maintain the

Multilevel parametrization of fissile nuclei resonance cross sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lukyanov, A.A.; Kolesov, V.V.; Janeva, N.

1987-01-01

Because the resonance interference has an important influence on the resonance structure of neutron cross sections energy dependence at lowest energies, multilevel scheme of the cross section parametrization which take into account the resonance interference is used for the description with the same provisions in the regions of the interferential maximum and minimum of the resonance cross sections of the fissile nuclei

Gamma ray absorption of cylindrical fissile material with dual shields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Chenyan; Cheng Yiying; Huang Yongyi; Lu Fuquan; Yang Fujia

2005-01-01

This work analyzed the gamma ray attenuation effect from the self-absorption and shield attenuation perspectively. An exact mathematical equation was given for the geometric factor of the cylindrical fissile material with dual shields. In addition, several approximation approaches suitable for real situation were discussed, especially in the radial and axial directions of the cylinders, since the G-factors have simple forms. Then the space distribution patterns of the G-factor were analyzed based on numerical result and effective ways to solved the geometric information of the cylindrical fissile material, the radii and the heights, were deduced. This method was checked and verified by numerical calculation. Because of the efficiency of the method, it is ideal for application in real situations, such as nuclear safeguards, which demands speed of detection and accuracy of geometric analysis. (authors)

User manual of FUNF code for fissile material data calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jingshang

2006-03-01

The FUNF code (2005 version) is used to calculate fast neutron reaction data of fissile materials with incident energies from about 1 keV up to 20 MeV. The first version of the FUNF code was completed in 1994. the code has been developed continually since that time and has often been used as an evaluation tool for setting up CENDL and for analyzing the measurements of fissile materials. During these years many improvements have been made. In this manual, the format of the input parameter files and the output files, as well as the functions of flag used in FUNF code, are introduced in detail, and the examples of the format of input parameters files are given. FUNF code consists of the spherical optical model, the Hauser-Feshbach model, and the unified Hauser-Feshbach and exciton model. (authors)

India and the fissile material cut-off treaty: policy options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayan, Rajiv

2011-01-01

The international community inside and outside the Conference of Disarmament is underscoring the need for concluding a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT). The Indian government, for a long period, has been sponsoring the idea. Notwithstanding the international stagnation, the issue has been instigating periodic debate in India on the Indian approach. The periodic revival of the issue requires that India revisit its policy on fissile material production as well as its approach towards a possible EVICT. This article examines the question: should India's approach to conclude an FMCT be within the UN institutional framework? The new international reality is pushing for a new context, new realignments and a fresh outlook for an FMCT. India should take its own time to support conclusion of an FMCT so that its national interests and security are not adversely affected. (author)

Extralobar pulmonary sequestration in neonates: The natural course and predictive factors associated with spontaneous regression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Hee Mang; Jung, Ah Young; Cho, Young Ah; Yoon, Chong Hyun; Lee, Jin Seong [Asan Medical Center Children' s Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Songpa-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ellen Ai-Rhan [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Division of Neonatology, Asan Medical Center Children' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chung, Sung-Hoon [Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Seon-Ok [Asan Medical Center, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-06-15

To describe the natural course of extralobar pulmonary sequestration (EPS) and identify factors associated with spontaneous regression of EPS. We retrospectively searched for patients diagnosed with EPS on initial contrast CT scan within 1 month after birth and had a follow-up CT scan without treatment. Spontaneous regression of EPS was assessed by percentage decrease in volume (PDV) and percentage decrease in sum of the diameter of systemic feeding arteries (PDD) by comparing initial and follow-up CT scans. Clinical and CT features were analysed to determine factors associated with PDV and PDD rates. Fifty-one neonates were included. The cumulative proportions of patients reaching PDV > 50 % and PDD > 50 % were 93.0 % and 73.3 % at 4 years, respectively. Tissue attenuation was significantly associated with PDV rate (B = -21.78, P <.001). The tissue attenuation (B = -22.62, P =.001) and diameter of the largest systemic feeding arteries (B = -48.31, P =.011) were significant factors associated with PDD rate. The volume and diameter of systemic feeding arteries of EPS spontaneously decreased within 4 years without treatment. EPSs showing a low tissue attenuation and small diameter of the largest systemic feeding arteries on initial contrast-enhanced CT scans were likely to regress spontaneously. (orig.)

Cross section measurements of fissile nuclei for slow neutrons; Mesures de sections efficaces de noyaux fissiles pour les neutrons lents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Auclair, J M; Hubert, P; Joly, R; Vendryes, G; Jacrot, B; Netter, F [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires; Galula, M [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

1955-07-01

It presents the experimental measurements of cross section of fissile nuclei for slow neutrons to improve the understanding of some heavy nuclei of great importance in the study of nuclear reactors. The different experiments are divided in three categories. In the first part, it studied the variation with energy of the cross sections of natural uranium, {sup 233}U, {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu. Two measurement techniques are used: the time-of-flight spectrometer and the crystal spectrometer. In a second part, the fission cross sections of {sup 233}U and {sup 239}Pu for thermal neutrons are compared using a neutron flux from EL-2 going through a double fission chamber. The matter quantity contained in each source is measured by counting the {alpha} activity with a solid angle counter. Finally, the average cross section of {sup 236}U for a spectra of neutrons from the reactor is measured by studying the {beta} activity of {sup 237}U formed by the reaction {sup 236}U (n, {gamma}) {sup 237}U in a sample of {sup 236}U irradiated in the Saclay reactor (EL-2). (M.P.)

Fissile solution dynamics: Student research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hetrick, D.L.

1994-09-01

There are two research projects in criticality safety at the University of Arizona: one in dynamic simulation of hypothetical criticality accidents in fissile solutions, and one in criticality benchmarks using transport theory. We have used the data from nuclear excursions in KEWB, CRAC, and SILENE to help in building models for solution excursions. An equation of state for liquids containing gas bubbles has been developed and coupled to point-reactor dynamics in an attempt to predict fission rate, yield, pressure, and kinetic energy. It appears that radiolytic gas is unimportant until after the first peak, but that it does strongly affect the shape of the subsequent power decrease and also the dynamic pressure.

Fissile material proliferation risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreicer, J.S.; Rutherford, D.A.

1996-01-01

The proliferation risk of a facility depends on the material attractiveness, level of safeguards, and physical protection applied to the material in conjunction with an assessment of the impact of the socioeconomic circumstances and threat environment. Proliferation risk is a complementary extension of proliferation resistance. The authors believe a better determination of nuclear proliferation can be achieved by establishing the proliferation risk for facilities that contain nuclear material. Developing a method that incorporates the socioeconomic circumstances and threat environment inherent to each country enables a global proliferation assessment. To effectively reduce the nuclear danger, a broadly based set of criteria is needed that provides the capability to relatively assess a wide range of nuclear related sites and facilities in different countries and still ensure a global decrease in proliferation risk for fissile material (plutonium and highly enriched uranium)

The role of congress in future disposal of fissile materials from dismantled nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnelly, W.H.; Davis, Z.S.

1991-01-01

Assuming the Soviet Union remains intact as a major power and the superpowers do not retrogress to a new Cold War era, it is likely that the United States and the Soviet Union will eventually agree to deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals. Future arms control agreements may be coupled with companion agreements to stop production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons, to dismantle the warheads of the nuclear weapons, and to dispose of their fissile materials to prevent reuse in new warheads. Such agreements would be negotiated by the U.S. executive branch but probably would require ratification, funding, and enabling legislation from the U.S. Congress if they are to succeed. There follows a brief review of the ideas for disposal of fissile materials from dismantled nuclear warheads and the potential role and influence of the Congress in the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of U.S.-Soviet agreements for such disposal

The molten salt reactor option for beneficial use of fissile material from dismantled weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gat, U.; Engel, J.R.

1991-01-01

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) option for burning fissile fuel from dismantled weapons is examined and is found very suitable for the beneficial use of this fuel. MSRs can utilize any fissile fuel in continuous operation with no special modifications, as demonstrated in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Thus, MSRs are flexible while maintaining their economy. Furthermore, MSRs require only a minimum of special fuel preparation. They can tolerate denaturing and dilution of their fuel. The size of fuel shipments can be determined to optimize safety and security-all of which supports nonproliferation and resists diversion. In addition, MSRs have inherent safety features that make them acceptable and attractive. They can burn fissile material completely or can convert it to other fuels. MSRs also have the potential for burning the actinides and delivering the waste in an optimal form, thus contributing to the solution of one of the major remaining problems in the deployment of nuclear power

Actualization of physical-chemical properties and criticality data of specific fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strauch, V.; Deutsch, K.H.

1991-09-01

The purpose of this project is to update the criticality curves contained in DIN 25 403, Parts 2-8. This report contains criticality data for aqueous uranium and plutonium systems of various concentrations for spherical, cylindrical and layer geometries. The critical dimensions were calculated with the single dimensional transport code XSDRNPM-S and the 27 group-library from Scale 3.1. A 30 cm thick water reflector was taken into account. The critical masses were obtained by multiplying the volume of a critical sphere with the fissile material concentration. The moderator/fissile material relationship for each of the investigated concentration ranges were described. Checks were made using experiments with comparable fissile material systems. Due to the complex geometry of some of the chosen experiments some calculation checks were carried out using the Monte-Carlo-Codes KENO IV-S and Va. The calculation results compared very well with the experiments. Comparison of the results with the currently valid DIN curves does not show any serious differences. The new values lie however slightly below the current values and therefore represent conservative values, so that the criticality curves of DIN 25 403, Parts 2-6 and 8 should be replaced. (orig./HP) [de

EXAFS and XANES analysis of plutonium and cerium edges from titanate ceramics for fissile materials disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fortner, J. A.; Kropf, A. J.; Bakel, A. J.; Hash, M. C.; Aase, S. B.; Buck, E. C.; Chamerlain, D. B.

1999-01-01

We report x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra from the plutonium L III edge and XANES from the cerium L II edge in prototype titanate ceramic hosts. The titanate ceramics studied are based upon the hafnium-pyrochlore and zirconolite mineral structures and will serve as an immobilization host for surplus fissile materials, containing as much as 10 weight % fissile plutonium and 20 weight % (natural or depleted) uranium. Three ceramic formulations were studied: one employed cerium as a ''surrogate'' element, replacing both plutonium and uranium in the ceramic matrix, another formulation contained plutonium in a ''baseline'' ceramic formulation, and a third contained plutonium in a formulation representing a high-impurity plutonium stream. The cerium XANES from the surrogate ceramic clearly indicates a mixed III-IV oxidation state for the cerium. In contrast, XANES analysis of the two plutonium-bearing ceramics shows that the plutonium is present almost entirely as Pu(IV) and occupies the calcium site in the zirconolite and pyrochlore phases. The plutonium EXAFS real-space structure shows a strong second-shell peak, clearly distinct from that of PuO 2 , with remarkably little difference in the plutonium crystal chemistry indicated between the baseline and high-impurity formulations

Materials technology for accelerator production of fissile isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horak, J.A.

1978-02-01

The materials used for the accelerator production of fissile isotopes must enable the facility to achieve maximum fuel production at a minimum cost. Neutron production in the target would be maximized by use of thorium cooled with Pb--56 percent Bi or with sodium. The thorium should be ion-plated with approximately 1 mil of nickel or stainless steel for retention of fission products. The target container will have to be replaced at frequent intervals because of the copious quantities of neutronically produced helium and hydrogen in the container. Replacement would coincide with shutdown of the facility for the removal of the fissile material produced. If sodium is used to cool both the target and fertile blanket, a simple basket-type target container could be used. This would greatly reduce radiation effects in the target container. Type 316 stainless steel or V--20 wt percent Ti should perform satisfactorily as a target container. The fertile blanket should be 233 Th or 238 U that is coated with approximately 1 mil of nickel or stainless steel and cooled with sodium. The blanket container could be an austenitic stainless steel such as type 304 or 316; some ferritic alloys may also provide a satisfactory blanket container. 31 references

Increasing transparency of nuclear-warhead and fissile-material stocks as a step toward disarmament -- Proposals for the NPT PrepCom, Geneva

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-04-01

These proposals made by the International Panel on Fissile Materials IPFM at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in April 2013 discuss how increasing transparency can help disarmament efforts. After a short introduction to IPFM and its mission, the action plan on nuclear disarmament is looked at and the various nations involved are listed. A set of baseline declarations proposed are discussed. These include warhead stocks, potential new declarations and fissile material stocks. Monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Authority IAEA is also reviewed. Preparations for future declarations concerning warhead and delivery systems locations, stockpile histories and fissile material production and disposal aspects are reported on. Finally, co-operative verification projects, warhead dismantlement and past fissile material production are examined

To the question of definition of fissile material mass and neutron multiplication in deep sub-critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dulin, V.V.

2006-01-01

A method of determination neutrons multiplication in deep sub-critical multiplying media has been developed. It is based on a modified of Rossi - alpha method. It will consist in use of integral on time (a method of the areas) from correlated parts of distribution and integral in area, independent of time a part of distribution (area of a constant background). It allows to spend the calculated analysis, using the integrated equation on time for a neutrons flux and to not use representation of point kinetic model. A calculation spatially-correlation factor the adjoint (relative the detector count rate) inhomogeneous equation is used. Its calculation takes into account fission both in multiplying media and in a spontaneous neutron source. Measurements with plutonium-steel and uranium-steel blocks, and blocks from uranium and plutonium dioxide of different enrichment are have been carried out. The measured values of neutrons multiplication in a range 1.03-1.82 will be well coordinated to results of calculations. The question on an opportunity of definition of weight of the measured blocks of fissile material is considered [ru

Repository for fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gablin, K.A.

1976-01-01

A repository for holding and storing fissile or other hazardous materials either under or above the ground is provided by enclosing one or more inner containers, such as standard steel drums, in a larger, corrosion-resistant outer shell, with a layer of foamed polyurethane occupying the space therebetween. The polyurethane foam is free of voids at its interfaces with the inner container and outer shell, and adheres to and reinforces same to provide a stress skin structure. Protection is afforded by the chemical and physical characteristics of the polyurethane foam against destructive influences such as water vapor intrusion, package leakage and damaging effects of the environment, such as freezing, electrolysis, chemical and bacterial action. The outer shell is shaped to conform generally to the shape of the inner container and is made of a tube of bituminized fiber material with endcaps of exterior grade plywood treated with wood preservative. A quantity of fluorescein dye is positioned within the inner container for monitoring each package for leakage

Safeguard and security issues for the U.S. Fissile Materials Disposition Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Moya, R.W.; Duggan, R.A.

1995-01-01

The Department of Energy's Office of Materials Disposition (MD) is analyzing long-term storage and disposition options for fissile materials, preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), preparing for a Record of Decision (ROD) regarding this material, and conducting other related activities. A primary objective of this program is to support U.S. nonproliferation policy by reducing major security risks. Particular areas of concern are the acquisition of this material by unauthorized persons and preventing the reintroduction of the material for use in weapons. This paper presents some of the issues, definitions, and assumptions addressed by the Safeguards and Security Project Team in support of the Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP). The discussion also includes some preliminary ideas regarding safeguards and security criteria that are applicable to the screening of disposition options

Safeguards and security issues for the U.S. Fissile Materials Disposition Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Moya, R.W.; Duggan, R.A.

1995-01-01

The Department of Energy's Office of Materials Disposition (MD) is analyzing long-term storage and disposition options for fissile materials, preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), preparing for a Record of Decision (ROD) regarding this material, and conducting other related activities. A primary objective of this program is to support US nonproliferation policy by reducing major security risks. Particular areas of concern are the acquisition of this material by unauthorized persons and preventing the reintroduction of the material for use in weapons. This paper presents some of the issues, definitions, and assumptions addressed by the Safeguards and Security Project Team in support of the Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP). The discussion also includes some preliminary ideas regarding safeguards and security criteria that are applicable to the screening of disposition options

Proceedings from the Fissile Material Cut-off seminar in Stockholm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arbman, G.

1998-01-01

The Swedish Defence Research Establishment hosted an international expert seminar on the subject of verifying a prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons purpose (cut-off) in Stockholm, June 3-5 1998. The objective of the seminar was to provide an opportunity for informal discussions among scientific and technical experts on various technical matters relating to the verification of a future Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). A stated aim of the seminar was to keep issues of scope to a minimum. Invited speakers and commentators were given an opportunity to present their views as written contributions. The present seminar proceedings are essentially the result of these views. In addition, short summaries of the discussions following each session are included. Although an attempt was made to be as complete and accurate as possible in reproducing these discussions, the editors apologise if some important points or statements have been omitted. If so, the main reason is that the documentation of the discussions were based on written notes, not taped recordings. Eight longer contributions have been separately indexed

Proceedings from the Fissile Material Cut-off seminar in Stockholm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arbman, G. [ed.

1998-07-01

The Swedish Defence Research Establishment hosted an international expert seminar on the subject of verifying a prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons purpose (cut-off) in Stockholm, June 3-5 1998. The objective of the seminar was to provide an opportunity for informal discussions among scientific and technical experts on various technical matters relating to the verification of a future Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). A stated aim of the seminar was to keep issues of scope to a minimum. Invited speakers and commentators were given an opportunity to present their views as written contributions. The present seminar proceedings are essentially the result of these views. In addition, short summaries of the discussions following each session are included. Although an attempt was made to be as complete and accurate as possible in reproducing these discussions, the editors apologise if some important points or statements have been omitted. If so, the main reason is that the documentation of the discussions were based on written notes, not taped recordings. Eight longer contributions have been separately indexed.

Physics concept on the constellation type fissile fuels and its application to the prospective Th-232U Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jiahua

1994-01-01

In contrast with the conventional nuclear reactor which usually fuelled with on single fissile nuclide, a constellation type fissile fuels reactor consists of a parent nuclide such as 232 Th or 238 U and its whole family of neutron generated daughter nuclides. All of them are regarded as fissile fuels but of quite different fission ability. The concentration of each daughter nuclide is determined by its saturate concentration ratio with the parent nuclide. In such fuel system, the whole fuel consumed by neutron reaction almost completely results in fission products. In this article, some properties of such fuel system, determination of the saturate concentration of each daughter nuclide and applicability to Th- 233 U fueled reactor will be discussed. 3 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs

Evaluation of criticality criteria for fissile class II packages in transportation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.T.

1976-01-01

The nuclear criticality safety of packages in transportation is explored systematically by a surface density representation of reflected array criticality of air-spaced units. Typical perturbations to arrays are shown to be related analytically to the corresponding reactivity changes they produce. The reactivity change associated with the removal of three reflecting surfaces from a totally water reflected array is shown to depend upon the fissile material loading of the packages. For U(93.2) metal, the expected reactivity loss can range from 2 to 21%. Replacement of a three-sided reflector of water on a critical array by one of concrete results in a reactivity increase ranging from 0 to 6%. Mass limits established by criticality data for reflected arrays of air-spaced units can provide a minimum, uniform margin of safety, expressible in terms of reactivity, to more reliably specify subcriticality in transport. Mass limits less than those defined by air-spaced units in water-reflected arrays are unnecessary for Fissile Class II packages. (author)

Studies of neutron methods for process control and criticality surveillance of fissile material processing facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zoltowski, T.

1988-01-01

The development of radiochemical processes for fissile material processing and spent fuel handling need new control procedures enabling an improvement of plant throughput. This is strictly related to the implementation of continuous criticality control policy and developing reliable methods for monitoring the reactivity of radiochemical plant operations in presence of the process perturbations. Neutron methods seem to be applicable for fissile material control in some technological facilities. The measurement of epithermal neutron source multiplication with heuristic evaluation of measured data enables surveillance of anomalous reactivity enhancement leading to unsafe states. 80 refs., 47 figs., 33 tabs. (author)

Calculation of the minimum critical mass of fissile nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, R.Q.; Hopper, Calvin Mitchell

2008-01-01

The OB-1 method for the calculation of the minimum critical mass of fissile actinides in metal/water systems was described in a previous paper. A fit to the calculated minimum critical mass data using the extended criticality parameter is the basis of the revised method. The solution density (grams/liter) for the minimum critical mass is also obtained by a fit to calculated values. Input to the calculation consists of the Maxwellian averaged fission and absorption cross sections and the thermal values of nubar. The revised method gives more accurate values than the original method does for both the minimum critical mass and the solution densities. The OB-1 method has been extended to calculate the uncertainties in the minimum critical mass for 12 different fissile nuclides. The uncertainties for the fission and capture cross sections and the estimated nubar uncertainties are used to determine the uncertainties in the minimum critical mass, either in percent or grams. Results have been obtained for U-233, U-235, Pu-236, Pu-239, Pu-241, Am-242m, Cm-243, Cm-245, Cf-249, Cf-251, Cf-253, and Es-254. Eight of these 12 nuclides are included in the ANS-8.15 standard.

Reduction of the uncertainty due to fissile clusters in radioactive waste characterization with the Differential Die-away Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Antoni, R.; Passard, C.; Perot, B.; Guillaumin, F.; Mazy, C.; Batifol, M.; Grassi, G.

2018-07-01

AREVA NC is preparing to process, characterize and compact old used fuel metallic waste stored at La Hague reprocessing plant in view of their future storage ("Haute Activité Oxyde" HAO project). For a large part of these historical wastes, the packaging is planned in CSD-C canisters ("Colis Standard de Déchets Compacté s") in the ACC hulls and nozzles compaction facility ("Atelier de Compactage des Coques et embouts"). . This paper presents a new method to take into account the possible presence of fissile material clusters, which may have a significant impact in the active neutron interrogation (Differential Die-away Technique) measurement of the CSD-C canisters, in the industrial neutron measurement station "P2-2". A matrix effect correction has already been investigated to predict the prompt fission neutron calibration coefficient (which provides the fissile mass) from an internal "drum flux monitor" signal provided during the active measurement by a boron-coated proportional counter located in the measurement cavity, and from a "drum transmission signal" recorded in passive mode by the detection blocks, in presence of an AmBe point source in the measurement cell. Up to now, the relationship between the calibration coefficient and these signals was obtained from a factorial design that did not consider the potential for occurrence of fissile material clusters. The interrogative neutron self-shielding in these clusters was treated separately and resulted in a penalty coefficient larger than 20% to prevent an underestimation of the fissile mass within the drum. In this work, we have shown that the incorporation of a new parameter in the factorial design, representing the fissile mass fraction in these clusters, provides an alternative to the penalty coefficient. This new approach finally does not degrade the uncertainty of the original prediction, which was calculated without taking into consideration the possible presence of clusters. Consequently, the

10 CFR 71.59 - Standards for arrays of fissile material packages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Standards for arrays of fissile material packages. 71.59 Section 71.59 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) PACKAGING AND TRANSPORTATION OF RADIOACTIVE.... The value of the CSI may be zero provided that an unlimited number of packages are subcritical, such...

Alternative repository criticality-control strategies for fissile uranium wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsberg, C.W.

1998-01-01

Methods to prevent long term, disposal site nuclear criticality from fissile uranium isotopes in wastes were investigated. Long term refers to the time period after waste package (WP) failure and the subsequent loss of geometry and chemistry control within the WP. The preferred method of control was found to be the addition of sufficient depleted uranium to each WP so that the uranium enrichment is reduced to 235 U and 233 U in 238 U

The determination by irradiation with a pulsed neutron generator and delayed neutron counting of the amount of fissile material present in a sample; Determination de la quantite de matiere fissile presente dans un echantillon par irradiation au moyen d'une source pulsee de neutrons et comptage des neutrons retardes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beliard, L; Janot, P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1967-07-01

A preliminary study was conducted to determine the amount of fissile material present in a sample. The method used consisted in irradiating the sample by means of a pulsed neutron generator and delayed neutron counting. Results show the validity of this method provided some experimental precautions are taken. Checking on the residual proportion of fissile material in leached hulls seems possible. (authors) [French] Ce rapport rend compte d'une etude preliminaire effectuee en vue de determiner la quantite de matiere fissile presente dans un echantillon. La methode utilisee consiste a irradier l'echantillon considere au moyen d'une source puisee de neutrons et a compter les neutrons retardes produits. Les resultats obtenus permettent de conclure a la validite de la methode moyennant certaines precautions. Un controle de la teneur residuelle en matiere fissile des gaines apres traitement semble possible. (auteurs)

Summary report of the screening process to determine reasonable alternatives for long-term storage and disposition of weapons-usable fissile materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-29

Significant quantities of weapons-usable fissile materials (primarily plutonium and highly enriched uranium) have become surplus to national defense needs both in the US and Russia. These stocks of fissile materials pose significant dangers to national and international security. The dangers exist not only in the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons but also in the potential for environmental, safety and health consequences if surplus fissile materials are not properly managed. As announced in the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), the Department of Energy is currently conducting an evaluation process for disposition of surplus weapons-usable fissile materials determined surplus to National Security needs, and long-term storage of national security and programmatic inventories, and surplus weapons-usable fissile materials that are not able to go directly from interim storage to disposition. An extensive set of long-term storage and disposition options was compiled. Five broad long-term storage options were identified; thirty-seven options were considered for plutonium disposition; nine options were considered for HEU disposition; and eight options were identified for Uranium-233 disposition. Section 2 discusses the criteria used in the screening process. Section 3 describes the options considered, and Section 4 provides a detailed summary discussions of the screening results.

Summary report of the screening process to determine reasonable alternatives for long-term storage and disposition of weapons-usable fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

Significant quantities of weapons-usable fissile materials (primarily plutonium and highly enriched uranium) have become surplus to national defense needs both in the US and Russia. These stocks of fissile materials pose significant dangers to national and international security. The dangers exist not only in the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons but also in the potential for environmental, safety and health consequences if surplus fissile materials are not properly managed. As announced in the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), the Department of Energy is currently conducting an evaluation process for disposition of surplus weapons-usable fissile materials determined surplus to National Security needs, and long-term storage of national security and programmatic inventories, and surplus weapons-usable fissile materials that are not able to go directly from interim storage to disposition. An extensive set of long-term storage and disposition options was compiled. Five broad long-term storage options were identified; thirty-seven options were considered for plutonium disposition; nine options were considered for HEU disposition; and eight options were identified for Uranium-233 disposition. Section 2 discusses the criteria used in the screening process. Section 3 describes the options considered, and Section 4 provides a detailed summary discussions of the screening results

A 252Cf based nondestructive assay system for fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menlove, H.O.; Crane, T.W.

1978-01-01

A modulated 252 Cf source assay system 'Shuffler' based on fast-or-thermal-neutron interrogation combined with delayed-neutron counting has been developed for the assay of fissile material. The 252 Cf neutron source is repetitively transferred from the interrogation position to a shielded position while the delayed neutrons are counted in a high efficiency 3 He neutron well-counter. For samples containing plutonium, this well-counter is also used in the passive coincidence mode to assay the effective 240 Pu content. The design of an optimized neutron tailoring assembly for fast-neutron interrogation using a Monte Carlo Neutron Computer Code is described. The Shuffler system has been applied to the assay of fuel pellets, inventory samples, irradiated fuel and plutonium mixed-oxide fuel. The system can assay samples with fissile contents from a few milligrams up to several kilograms using thermal-neutron interrogation for the low mass samples and fast-neutron interrogation for the high mass samples. Samples containing 235 U- 238 U, or 233 U-Th, or UO 2 -PuO 2 fuel mixtures have been assayed with the Shuffler system. (Auth.)

Ensuring the 50 year life of a fissile material container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, R.E.; Towne, T.L.

1997-12-01

Sandia was presented with an opportunity in 1993 to design containers for the long term storage and transport of fissile material. This program was undertaken at the direction of the US Department of Energy and in cooperation with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory which were tasked with developing the internal fixturing for the contents. The hardware is being supplied by Allied Signal Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, and the packaging will occur at Mason and Hangar Corporation's Pantex Plant. The unique challenge was to design a container that could be sealed with the fissile material contents; and, anytime during the next 50 years, the container could be transported with only the need for the pre-shipment leak test. This required not only a rigorous design capable of meeting the long term storage and transportation requirements, but also resulted in development of a surveillance program to ensure that the container continues to perform as designed over the 50-year life. This paper addresses the design of the container, the testing that was undertaken to demonstrate compliance with US radioactive materials transport regulations, and the surveillance program that has been initiated to ensure the 50-year performance

Harmonisation of criticality assessments of packages for the transport of fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrington, L.

2004-01-01

The transport of fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials is an international business, and for international shipments the regulations require a package to be certified by each country through or into which the consignment is to be transported. This raises a number of harmonisation issues, which have an important bearing on transport activities. National authorities carry out independent reviews of the criticality safety of packages containing fissile materials but the underlying assumptions used in the calculations can differ, and the outcome is that implementation of the regulations is not uniform. A single design may require multiple criticality analyses to obtain base approval and foreign validations. When several competent authorities are involved, the approval and validation process of package design can often become a time-consuming, expensive and unpredictably lengthy process that can have a significant detrimental effect upon the businesses involved. The characteristics of the fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials transported by the various countries have much in common and so have the designs of the packages to contain them. A greater degree of standardisation should allow criticality safety to be assessed consistently and efficiently with benefits for the nuclear transport industry and the regulatory bodies. (author)

Harmonisation of criticality assessments of packages for the transport of fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrington, L.

2004-01-01

The transport of fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials is an international business and for international shipments the regulations require a package to be certified by each country through or into which the consignment is to be transported. This raises a number of harmonisation issues, which have an important bearing on transport activities. National authorities carry out independent reviews of criticality safety of packages containing fissile materials but the underlying assumptions used in the calculations can differ, and the outcome is that implementation of the regulations is not uniform. A single design may require multiple criticality analyses to obtain base approval and foreign validations. When several Competent Authorities are involved, the approval and validation process of package design can often become time consuming, expensive and an unpredictably lengthy process that can have a significant detrimental effect upon the businesses involved. The characteristics of the fissile nuclear fuel cycle materials transported by the various countries have much in common and so have the designs of the packages to contain them. A greater degree of standardisation should allow criticality safety to be assessed consistently and efficiently with benefits for the nuclear transport industry and the regulatory bodies

Development of AGNES, a kinetics code for fissile solutions, 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Ken; Ohnishi, Nobuaki

1986-01-01

A kinetics code for fissile solutions, AGNES (Accidentally Generated Nuclear Excursion Simulation code), has been developed. This code calculates the radiolytic gas void effect as a reactivity feedback. Physical and calculative models of the radiolytic gas void are summarized and the usage of AGNES is described. In addition, some benchmark calculations were performed and results of calculations show good agreement with those of experiments. (author)

Quantification of Fissile Materials by Photon Activation Method in a Highly Shielded Enclosure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dighe, P.M.; Pithawa, C.K.; Goswami, A.; Dixit, K.P.; Mittal, K.C.; Sunil, C.; Sarkar, P.K.; Mukhopadhyay, P.K.; Patil, R.K.; Srivastava, G.P.; Ganesan, S.; Venugopal, V.

2010-01-01

For active and non-destructive quantitative identification of heavily shielded fissile materials, photo fission is one of the most often used techniques. High energy photon beams can be conveniently generated with the help of electron LINACs. 10MeV energy electron LINACs are extensively used for various industrial applications such as food irradiation, X-ray radiography, etc. The radiological safety consideration favours the use of electron beam of upto 10 MeV energy. The photonuclear data available on 10 MeV end point energy is very scarce. The present paper gives the results of our initial experiments carried out using natural uranium samples at 10 MeV LINAC facility. Water cooled tantalum target converter was used to produce intense Bremsstrahlung to induce photofission in the samples. Neutron detection system consists of six numbers of high sensitivity Helium-3 proportional counters and gamma detection system consists of two numbers of 76 mm diameter BGO scintillators. Delayed neutron and delayed gamma radiations were measured and analyzed. The mass to count rate relationship has been established for both delayed neutron and gamma radiations. Delayed gamma decay constants of natural uranium have been derived for the 10 MeV end point energy. (author)

Individual differences in the spontaneous recruitment of brain regions supporting mental state understanding when viewing natural social scenes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Dylan D; Kelley, William M; Heatherton, Todd F

2011-12-01

People are able to rapidly infer complex personality traits and mental states even from the most minimal person information. Research has shown that when observers view a natural scene containing people, they spend a disproportionate amount of their time looking at the social features (e.g., faces, bodies). Does this preference for social features merely reflect the biological salience of these features or are observers spontaneously attempting to make sense of complex social dynamics? Using functional neuroimaging, we investigated neural responses to social and nonsocial visual scenes in a large sample of participants (n = 48) who varied on an individual difference measure assessing empathy and mentalizing (i.e., empathizing). Compared with other scene categories, viewing natural social scenes activated regions associated with social cognition (e.g., dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and temporal poles). Moreover, activity in these regions during social scene viewing was strongly correlated with individual differences in empathizing. These findings offer neural evidence that observers spontaneously engage in social cognition when viewing complex social material but that the degree to which people do so is mediated by individual differences in trait empathizing.

Current status and recommended future studies of underground supercriticality of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowman, C.D.

1996-06-01

More than a year has passed since we released our original report pointing out the possibility of natural or induced rearrangement of fissile material underground into a critical mass, the possibility of positive feedback in underground configurations, the confinement of the rock to produce significant yield, and the possibility of venting or explosion. The nuclear weapons and repository storage groups at both Los Alamos and Livermore have been critical of our work while others have defended our calculations on wet and dry criticality. The conditions we identified for positive and negative feedback are no longer contested. The role of confinement of the rock in enhancing the yield from the explosion is still unsettled, and that is addressed later in this paper. The likelihood of confinement, venting, or explosive dispersion also remains unsettled and that is addressed here as well. Some critics of our work have tried to show that the probability of reconfiguration by natural processes is very small. They argue further that emplacement can be done in such a way as to make the probability even smaller. Of course these additional efforts will raise the cost of waste emplacement and the question arises as to how much is enough. The answer to this question seems to not be an easy one

Spontaneous Scalarization: Dead or Alive?

Science.gov (United States)

Berti, Emanuele; Crispino, Luis; Gerosa, Davide; Gualtieri, Leonardo; Horbatsch, Michael; Macedo, Caio; Okada da Silva, Hector; Pani, Paolo; Sotani, Hajime; Sperhake, Ulrich

2015-04-01

In 1993, Damour and Esposito-Farese showed that a wide class of scalar-tensor theories can pass weak-field gravitational tests and exhibit nonperturbative strong-field deviations away from General Relativity in systems involving neutron stars. These deviations are possible in the presence of ``spontaneous scalarization,'' a phase transition similar in nature to spontaneous magnetization in ferromagnets. More than twenty years after the original proposal, binary pulsar experiments have severely constrained the possibility of spontaneous scalarization occurring in nature. I will show that these experimental constraints have important implications for the torsional oscillation frequencies of neutron stars and for the so-called ``I-Love-Q'' relations in scalar-tensor theories. I will also argue that there is still hope to observe strong scalarization effects, despite the strong experimental bounds on the original mechanism. In particular, I will discuss two mechanisms that could produce strong scalarization in neutron stars: anisotropy and multiscalarization. This work was supported by NSF CAREER Award PHY-1055103.

The swelling behavior of Ti-stabilized austenitic steels used as structural materials of fissile subassemblies in Phenix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seran, J.L.; Touron, H.; Maillard, A.; Dubuisson, P.; Hugot, J.P.; Blanchard, P.; Pelletier, M.

1988-06-01

In this paper we analyse the main results obained on pressurized tubes, fissile pins and hexagonal cans, allowing us to characterize the swelling and irradiation creep resistance of Ti-Mod. austenitic steels, used as reference materials for the fast breeder subassembly. After having compared the global behavior of 316Ti and 15-15Ti steels irradiated as fissile pins we examine in more detail the leading variables acting on swelling and irradiation creep resistance of CW 316Ti clads and wrappers. The irradiation creep associated to the principal mechanical stresses (sodium pressure for the wrapper, fission gas pressure for the clad) explain the plastic deformation observed on the wrappers not on the clads. Fissile pins swell more and the scatter of the results is larger than for wrappers or samples. It does not seem possible to invoque flux or primary stress differences to explain this fact. On the opposite the thermal gradient in the thickness of the components appears to be a significant parameter. In fissile pins it gives rise to a swelling gradient observed by electron microscopy that must be taken into account when comparing to the wrapper. As compared to CW 316Ti, CW 15-15Ti is an important improvement since its incubation dose for swelling is far beyond 100 dpa. Further more since it swelling temperature dependence does not seem to be as important as for 316Ti, it should be less sensitive to the effect of thermal gradients

Spontaneous generation in medieval Jewish philosophy and theology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaziel, Ahuva

2012-01-01

The concept of life forms emerging from inanimate matter--spontaneous generation--was widely accepted until the nineteenth century. Several medieval Jewish scholars acknowledged this scientific theory in their philosophical and religious contemplations. Quite interestingly, it served to reinforce diverse, or even opposite, theological conclusions. One approach excluded spontaneously-generated living beings form the biblical account of creation or the story of the Deluge. Underlying this view is an understanding that organisms that generate spontaneously evolve continuously in nature and, therefore, do not require divine intervention in their formation or survival during disastrous events. This naturalistic position reduces the miraculous dimension of reality. Others were of the opinion that spontaneous generation is one of the extraordinary marvels exhibited in this world and, accordingly, this interpretation served to accentuate the divine aspect of nature. References to spontaneous generation also appear in legal writings, influencing practical applications such as dietary laws and actions forbidden on the Sabbath.

A new class of spontaneously polarized materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Field, David; Plekan, Oksana; Cassidy, Andrew

2011-01-01

Very large electric fields form spontaneously within films of seemingly prosaic chemicals such as nitrous oxide or propane.We describe how the discovery of this unexpected phenomenon took place and how we attempt to understand the nature of the new class of spontaneously polarized materials...

Measurement of inventories with mixed fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rinard, P.M.; Krick, M.S.; Kelley, T.; Schneider, C.M.

1997-01-01

An inventory with a large number of diverse items containing mixtures of uranium and plutonium has been measured with two nondestructive assay (NDA) instruments used in four modes. A segmented gamma scanner (SGS) was used to find the number of cans and the positions of the fissile materials by scanning each item in front of a transmissions source; at each position, uranium and plutonium isotopics were measured with the passive gamma rays emitted. A shuffler was then used in both the passive and active modes to measure the masses of the two elements. The measured masses for the inventory items were generally in agreement with the declared values, but anomalies were identified for a small fraction of the inventory

Children's Spontaneous Vocalisations during Play: Aesthetic Dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Countryman, June; Gabriel, Martha; Thompson, Katherine

2016-01-01

This paper explores the phenomenon of spontaneous vocalisations in the self-chosen, unstructured outdoor play of children aged 3-12. Spontaneous vocalisations encompass the whole range of children's unprompted, natural, expressive vocal soundings beyond spoken language. Non-participant observations at childcare centres and on elementary school…

Automated monitoring of fissile and fertile materials in incinerator residue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoenig, F.C. Jr.; Glendinning, S.G.; Tunnell, G.W.; Zucker, M.S.

1986-01-01

This patent describes an apparatus for determining the fissile and fertile material content of incinerator residue contained in a manipulatable container. The apparatus comprises a main body member formed of neutron moderating material and formed with a well for receiving the container; a first plug formed of neutron reflecting material for closing the top of the well; and a second plug containing a first neutron source for alternatively closing the top of the well and for directing neutrons into the well. It also includes a second neutron source selectively positionable in the bottom of the well for directing neutrons into the well; manipulating means for placing the container in the well and removing the container therefrom and for selectively placing one of the first and second plugs in the top of the well. Neutron detectors are positioned within the neutron moderating material of the main body member around the sides of the well. At least one gamma ray detector is positioned adjacent the bottom of the well. A means receives and processes the signals from the neutron and gamma ray detectors when the container is in the well for determining the fissile and fertile material content of the incinerator residue in the container

Fusion-Fission Hybrid for Fissile Fuel Production without Processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fratoni, M; Moir, R W; Kramer, K J; Latkowski, J F; Meier, W R; Powers, J J

2012-01-02

Two scenarios are typically envisioned for thorium fuel cycles: 'open' cycles based on irradiation of {sup 232}Th and fission of {sup 233}U in situ without reprocessing or 'closed' cycles based on irradiation of {sup 232}Th followed by reprocessing, and recycling of {sup 233}U either in situ or in critical fission reactors. This study evaluates a third option based on the possibility of breeding fissile material in a fusion-fission hybrid reactor and burning the same fuel in a critical reactor without any reprocessing or reconditioning. This fuel cycle requires the hybrid and the critical reactor to use the same fuel form. TRISO particles embedded in carbon pebbles were selected as the preferred form of fuel and an inertial laser fusion system featuring a subcritical blanket was combined with critical pebble bed reactors, either gas-cooled or liquid-salt-cooled. The hybrid reactor was modeled based on the earlier, hybrid version of the LLNL Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE1) system, whereas the critical reactors were modeled according to the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and the Pebble Bed Advanced High Temperature Reactor (PB-AHTR) design. An extensive neutronic analysis was carried out for both the hybrid and the fission reactors in order to track the fuel composition at each stage of the fuel cycle and ultimately determine the plant support ratio, which has been defined as the ratio between the thermal power generated in fission reactors and the fusion power required to breed the fissile fuel burnt in these fission reactors. It was found that the maximum attainable plant support ratio for a thorium fuel cycle that employs neither enrichment nor reprocessing is about 2. This requires tuning the neutron energy towards high energy for breeding and towards thermal energy for burning. A high fuel loading in the pebbles allows a faster spectrum in the hybrid blanket; mixing dummy carbon pebbles with fuel pebbles enables a softer spectrum in

The spontaneous market order and evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Naomi

2016-08-01

Darwin's theory of natural selection and the idea of a spontaneous order share a fundamental feature: the claim that apparent design or order do not necessarily imply a designer or rational planning. But they also present important differences, which touch upon central questions such as the evolution of morality, the role of human agency in social evolution, the existence (or not) of directionality in undesigned processes, and the presence (nor not) of a providential element in evolutionary accounts. In this article, I explore these themes and probe the relationship between the notion of a spontaneous order and the theory of evolution by natural selection. The reflections of Nobel laureate in economics, F.A. von Hayek, provide the beginning and endpoint in this voyage, for they constitute the most pronounced effort to develop a full-fledged theory combining evolution and economics in recent times. But along the way, I also investigate the influence of classical political economy on Darwin's thought, primarily that of Adam Smith, and consider the reasons for which Darwin did not refer to Smith when discussing the principle of natural selection in The Origin of Species. I conclude that the spontaneous order, as understood by Hayek, and evolution by natural selection constitute two disparate concepts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spontaneous and Widespread Electricity Generation in Natural Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Masahiro; Nakamura, Ryuhei; Kasaya, Takafumi; Kumagai, Hidenori; Suzuki, Katsuhiko; Takai, Ken

2017-05-15

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents discharge abundant reductive energy into oxidative seawater. Herein, we demonstrated that in situ measurements of redox potentials on the surfaces of active hydrothermal mineral deposits were more negative than the surrounding seawater potential, driving electrical current generation. We also demonstrated that negative potentials in the surface of minerals were widespread in the hydrothermal fields, regardless of the proximity to hydrothermal fluid discharges. Lab experiments verified that the negative potential of the mineral surface was induced by a distant electron transfer from the hydrothermal fluid through the metallic and catalytic properties of minerals. These results indicate that electric current is spontaneously and widely generated in natural mineral deposits in deep-sea hydrothermal fields. Our discovery provides important insights into the microbial communities that are supported by extracellular electron transfer and the prebiotic chemical and metabolic evolution of the ocean hydrothermal systems. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

General principles of the nuclear criticality safety for handling, processing and transportation fissile materials in the USSR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vnukov, V.S.; Rjazanov, B.G.; Sviridov, V.I.; Frolov, V.V.; Zubkov, Y.N.

1991-01-01

The paper describes the general principles of nuclear criticality safety for handling, processing, transportation and fissile materials storing. Measures to limit the consequences of critical accidents are discussed for the fuel processing plants and fissile materials storage. The system of scientific and technical measures on nuclear criticality safety as well as the system of control and state supervision based on the rules, limits and requirements are described. The criticality safety aspects for various stages of handling nuclear materials are considered. The paper gives descriptions of the methods and approaches for critical risk assessments for the processing facilities, plants and storages. (Author)

Comparison of thorium-based fuels with different fissile components in existing BWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjoerk, Klara Insulander; Fhager, Valentin; Demaziere, Christophe

2009-01-01

Three different types of thorium based BWR fuel have been developed, in each of which thorium was combined with a different fissile component, the three components being reactor grade plutonium, uranium enriched to 20% in uranium 235 and pure uranium 233. A BWR nuclear bundle design, based on the geometrical fuel assembly design GE14, was developed for each of these fissile components. The properties and performance of the corresponding fuel assemblies were investigated via full core calculations carried out for an existing BWR and compared with the ones of an ordinary Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel, which was developed for reference. The fuel assemblies and cores were designed to meet existing fuel design criteria, and were then analyzed with regards to reactivity coefficients, delayed neutron fractions, control rod worths and shutdown margins. The results show that all three alternatives seem to be feasible, although some difficulties remain with complying with the thermal limits, and with the moderator temperature and coolant void coefficients of the U-233 containing fuel being positive under some circumstances. (author)

DNA methyltransferase 3A promoter polymorphism is associated with the risk of human spontaneous abortion after assisted reproduction techniques and natural conception.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yudong; Zheng, Haiyan; Guo, Pingping; Feng, Shuxian; Zhou, Xingyu; Ye, Desheng; Chen, Xin; Chen, Shiling

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to explore the association of the DNA-methyltransferase (DNMT)-3A and DNMT3B promoter polymorphisms with the risk of human spontaneous abortion after assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) and natural conception. We collected tissues from women who underwent abortion procedures: (a) chorionic villus samples (CVS) and muscle samples (MS) from spontaneous abortions conceived by ART and natural cycle (study group), n = 152; and (b) CVS and MS from normal early pregnancy and second trimester (control group), n = 155. The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) -448A > G in the DNMT3A promoter region and -149C/T polymorphism of DNMT3B were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and confirmed by sequencing. The allele frequency of -448A among pregnancy loss group and control group was 34.2 % vs. 16.5 %, respectively. Compared with GG carriers, the DNMT3A -448AA homozygotes had an about 16-fold increased risk of spontaneous abortion [odds ratio (OR) = 16.130, 95 % confidence interval (CI), 3.665-70.984], and AG heterozygotes had an OR of 2.027 (95 % CI, 1.247-3.293). However, the distribution of -448A > G in individuals derived from ART pregnancies was not statistically significantly compared with those derived from spontaneous pregnancies (P = 0.661). For DNMT3B, we observed genotype frequencies of 100 % (TT) in the study group and the control group. The DNMT3A -448A > G polymorphism may be a novel functional SNP and contribute to its genetic susceptibility to spontaneous abortion in Chinese women, and ART may not affect the distribution of -448A > G in pregnancy loss and normal pregnancy. The observed TT genotype of DMNT3B suggests that this is the predominant genotype of this population. The findings provide new insights into the etiology of human spontaneous abortion.

Storage capacity for fissile material as a function of facility shape (room length-to-width ratio)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altschuler, S.J.

1975-01-01

The results of a previous study for applying surface density methods to square room of varying size are shown to be conservative for rectangular rooms as well. The surface density required to produce criticality has been calculated as a function of the facility length-to-width ratio for a variety of room widths and unit sizes, shapes, and fissile material compositions. For a length to width ratio greater than or equal to 6, the critical surface density is essentially constant. This allows further economies since more fissile material can be stored at a given subcritical value of k/ sub eff/(0.90) in a rectangular vault of given usable area than in a square one. (U.S.)

A review of the prospects for fusion breeding of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geiger, J.S.; Bartholomew, G.A.

1981-10-01

This report is the result of an eight month study by the AECL Fusion Status Study Group. The objectives of this study were to review the current status of fusion research, to evaluate the neutronic performance of various fusion-breeder systems, and to assess the economic and technological outlook for the fusion breeder as a source of fissile material to support CANDU reactors operating on the thorium fuel cycle

Spontaneous Dissection of the Superior Mesenteric Artery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheldon, Patrick J.; Esther, James B.; Sheldon, Elana L.; Sparks, Steven R.; Brophy, David P.; Oglevie, Steven B.

2001-01-01

Spontaneous dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) is a rare occurrence, especially when not associated with aortic dissection. Currently, only 28 cases appear to have been reported. Due to the scarcity of cases in the literature, the natural history of isolated, spontaneous SMA dissection is unclear. CT has been reported to be useful for the initial diagnosis of SMA dissection [2-5]. We present two recent cases of spontaneous SMA dissection in which enhanced spiral CT was instrumental in following the disease process and guiding clinical decision making

Update on Monitoring Technologies for International Safeguards and Fissile Material Verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Croessmann, C. Dennis; Glidewell, Don D.; Mangan, Dennis L.; Smathers, Douglas C.

1999-01-01

Monitoring technologies are playing an increasingly important part in international safeguards and fissile material verification. The developments reduce the time an inspector must spend at a site while assuring continuity of knowledge. Monitoring technologies' continued development has produced new seal systems and integrated video surveillance advances under consideration for Trilateral Initiative use. This paper will present recent developments for monitoring systems at Embalse, Argentina, VNHEF, Sarov, Russian, and Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina

Verification of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT): The Potential Role of the IAEA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Jin Ho

2016-01-01

The objective of a future verification of a FMCT(Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty) is to deter and detect non-compliance with treaty obligations in a timely and non-discriminatory manner with regard to banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices. Since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has already established the IAEA safeguards as a verification system mainly for Non -Nuclear Weapon States (NNWSs), it is expected that the IAEA's experience and expertise in this field will make a significant contribution to setting up a future treaty's verification regime. This paper is designed to explore the potential role of the IAEA in verifying the future treaty by analyzing verification abilities of the Agency in terms of treaty verification and expected challenges. Furthermore, the concept of multilateral verification that could be facilitated by the IAEA will be examined as a measure of providing a credible assurance of compliance with a future treaty. In this circumstance, it is necessary for the IAEA to be prepared for playing a leading role in FMCT verifications as a form of multilateral verification by taking advantage of its existing verification concepts, methods, and tools. Also, several challenges that the Agency faces today need to be overcome, including dealing with sensitive and proliferative information, attribution of fissile materials, lack of verification experience in military fuel cycle facilities, and different attitude and culture towards verification between NWSs and NNWSs

Verification of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT): The Potential Role of the IAEA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Jin Ho [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The objective of a future verification of a FMCT(Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty) is to deter and detect non-compliance with treaty obligations in a timely and non-discriminatory manner with regard to banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices. Since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has already established the IAEA safeguards as a verification system mainly for Non -Nuclear Weapon States (NNWSs), it is expected that the IAEA's experience and expertise in this field will make a significant contribution to setting up a future treaty's verification regime. This paper is designed to explore the potential role of the IAEA in verifying the future treaty by analyzing verification abilities of the Agency in terms of treaty verification and expected challenges. Furthermore, the concept of multilateral verification that could be facilitated by the IAEA will be examined as a measure of providing a credible assurance of compliance with a future treaty. In this circumstance, it is necessary for the IAEA to be prepared for playing a leading role in FMCT verifications as a form of multilateral verification by taking advantage of its existing verification concepts, methods, and tools. Also, several challenges that the Agency faces today need to be overcome, including dealing with sensitive and proliferative information, attribution of fissile materials, lack of verification experience in military fuel cycle facilities, and different attitude and culture towards verification between NWSs and NNWSs.

Interprofessional learning, impression management, and spontaneity in the acute healthcare setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Elaine; McAllister, Sue; Ward, Paul R; Russell, Alison

2016-09-01

Spontaneous learning is integral to definitions of interprofessional learning (IPL) because it has been suggested that spontaneous learning can be deeply connected with the work that people do in collaboration with colleagues via their professional networks. However, its nature and the processes involved are not well understood. Goffman's theory of impression management offers a useful theoretical framework to consider the way in which interaction in the workplace connects to spontaneous learning. This article explores the current literature to investigate the usefulness of this framework to better understand and identify spontaneous learning in the workplace. Aspects such as the connections between spontaneous learning occurring in formal and informal work activities, the spaces in which it occurs, and the influence of professional networking are considered. It is proposed that research directed to developing a better understanding of the nature of spontaneous learning in IPL will assist in connecting this learning to formal IPL curricula, enhancing IPL and patient outcomes.

The Molten Salt Reactor option for beneficial use of fissile material from dismantled weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gat, U.; Engel, J.R.; Dodds, H.L.

1991-01-01

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) option for burning fissile fuel from dismantled weapons is examined. It is concluded that MSRs are very suitable for beneficial utilization of the dismantled fuel. The MSRs can utilize any fissile fuel in continuous operation with no special modifications, as demonstrated in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Thus MSRs are flexible while maintaining their economy. MSRs further require a minimum of special fuel preparation and can tolerate denaturing and dilution of the fuel. Fuel shipments can be arbitrarily small, all of which supports nonproliferation and averts diversion. MSRs have inherent safety features which make them acceptable and attractive. They can burn a fuel type completely and convert it to other fuels. MSRs also have the potential for burning the actinides and delivering the waste in an optimal form, thus contributing to the solution of one of the major remaining problems for deployment of nuclear power. 19 refs

Disposition scenarios and safeguardability of fissile materials under START Treaty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pillay, K.K.S.

1993-01-01

Under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-I) signed in 1991 and the Lisbon Protocol of 1992, a large inventory of fissile materials will be removed from the weapons fuel cycles of the United States and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The Lisbon Protocol calls for Ukraine, Kazakstan, and Byelarus to become nonnuclear members of the treaty and for Russia to assume the responsibility of the treaty as a nuclear weapons state. In addition, the START-II Treaty, which was signed in 1993 by the United States and Russia, further reduces deployed nuclear warheads and adds to the inventory of excess special nuclear materials (SNM). Because storage of in-tact warheads has the potential for a open-quotes breakout,close quotes it would be desirable to dismantle the warheads and properly dispose of the SNMs under appropriate safeguards to prevent their reentry into the weapons fuel cycle. The SNM recovered from dismantled warheads can be disposed of in several ways, and the final choices may be up to the country having the title to the SNM. Current plans are to store them indefinitely, leaving serious safeguards concerns. Recognizing that the underlying objective of these treaties is to prevent the fissile materials from reentering the weapons fuel cycle, it is necessary to establish a verifiable disposal scheme that includes safeguards requirements. This paper identifies some realistic scenarios for the disposal of SNM from the weapons fuel cycle and examines the safeguardability of those scenarios

Spontaneous baryogenesis from asymmetric inflaton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Fuminobu

2015-10-01

We propose a variant scenario of spontaneous baryogenesis from asymmetric inflaton based on current-current interactions between the inflaton and matter fields with a non-zero B-L charge. When the inflaton starts to oscillate around the minimum after inflation, it may lead to excitation of a CP-odd component, which induces an effective chemical potential for the B-L number through the current-current interactions. We study concrete inflation models and show that the spontaneous baryogenesis scenario can be naturally implemented in the chaotic inflation in supergravity.

The differential dieaway technique applied to the measurement of the fissile content of drums of cement encapsulated waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinhoe, M.T.

1986-01-01

This report describes calculations of the differential dieaway technique as applied to cement encapsulated waste. The main difference from previous applications of the technique are that only one detector position is used (diametrically opposite the neutron source) and the chamber walls are made of concrete. The results show that by rotating the drum the response to fissile material across the central plane of the drum can be made relatively uniform. The absolute size of the response is about 0.4. counts per minute per gram fissile for a neutron source of 10 8 neutrons per second. Problems of neutron and gamma background and water content are considered. (author)

Applications of the ANSI/ANS standard on the storage of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.T.

1985-01-01

The American National Standard ''Guide for Nuclear Criticality Safety in the Storage of Fissile Materials,'' ANSI/N16.5-1975 is the subject of this paper. The 'Guide' was reaffirmed in 1982. The technical bases for the conditions and requirements are discussed. Suggestions for applications and several general problems addressed by the Guide are presented. The development of information needed for future extensions of the area of applicability is given

Fissile materials in solution concentration measured by active neutron interrogation; Mesure de concentration en matiere fissile dans les liquides par interrogation neutronique active

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romeyer Dherbey, J.; Passard, Ch.; Cloue, J.; Bignan, G.

1993-12-31

The use of the active neutron interrogation to measure the concentration of plutonium contained in flow solutions is particularly interesting for fuel reprocessing plants. Indeed, this method gives a signal which is in a direct relation with the fissile materials concentration. Moreover, it is less sensitive to the gamma dose rate than the other nondestructive methods. Two measure methods have been evolved in CEA. Their principles are given into details in this work. The first one consists to detect fission delayed neutrons induced by a {sup 252} Cf source. In the second one fission prompt neutrons induced by a neutron generator of 14 MeV are detected. (O.M.). 6 refs.

Spontaneously broken global symmetries and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafi, Q.; Vilenkin, A.

1984-01-01

Phase transitions associated with spontaneously broken global symmetries, in case these occur in nature, can have important cosmological implications. This is illustrated through two examples. The first one shows how the spontaneous breaking of a global U(1) symmetry, present, for instance, in the minimal SU(5) model, can lead to an inflationary phase. The second example illustrates how topologically stable strings associated with the breaking of U(1) symmetry make an appearance at (or near) the end of the inflationary era

Warheads and Fissile Materials:Declarations and Counting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutcliffe, W.G.

1991-01-01

This paper reviews some of the issues about verifying the dismantlement of nuclear warheads and controlling nuclear materials in the context of arms control objectives. It is asserted that information about the stockpiles of nuclear warheads and materials is necessary to analyze the impacts and verification requirements of arms control measures including warhead dismantlement and fissile material controls. It is proposed that the US and the Soviets engage in a series of declarations about their stockpiles of nuclear weapons and materials. It is also asserted that currently it is more important to verify that warheads are retired to safe, secure facilities than to verify their dismantlement. It is proposed that production of new or rebuilt warheads be limited to less than the number retired each year. Verifying the number of new and rebuilt warheads deployed and the number retired avoids many of the difficulties in verifying dismantlement and material controls

Representation of the neutron cross sections of several fertile and fissile nuclei in the resonance regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

de Saussure, G.; Perez, R.B.

1981-01-01

Several aspects of the measurement, analysis and evaluation of the cross sections of the fertile and fissile nuclides in the resonance regions are discussed. In the resolved range, for the fertile nuclides it is thought that the principal requirement for improved evaluations is for a practical methodology to deal with systematic errors and their correlations. For the fissile nuclides 235 U and 239 Pu, the ENDF/B-V evaluations are not consistent with ENDF/B procedures recommendations and fall short of the goals of resonance analysis. New evaluations of these two isotopes should be performed. In the unresolved resonance region it is shown that the ENDF/B representation is ambiguous and is not theoretically justified. A better representation may be desirable, and a validation of the representation with experimental self-shielding and transmission measurements is certainly required. 105 references

Royal Order of 30 March 1981 determining the duties and conditions of operation of the public body responsible for radioactive waste and fissile materials management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

The purpose of this Royal Order is to set up a public body to be responsible for management of the storage of conditioned radioactive waste, waste disposal, its transport as well as that of plutonium-bearing or enriched fissile materials, and plutonium storage. It must become operational as soon as possible, in particular in the perspective of the Eurochemic Company's technical operations ceasing as from 31 December 1981. This body will be named the National Body for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials (ONDRAF). As respects plutonium-bearing or enriched fissile materials, ONDRAF will deal with the transport of materials which, in accordance with the IAEA recommendations [INFCIRC/225/Rev. 1], require physical protection measures (NEA) [fr

Safety analysis report: packages. Argonne National Laboratory SLSF test train shipping container, P-1 shipment. Fissile material. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, C.A.

1975-06-01

The package is used to ship an instrumented test fuel bundle (test train) containing fissile material. The package assembly is Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Model R1010-0032. The shipment is fissile class III. The packaging consists of an outer carbon steel container into which an inner container is placed; the inner container is separated from the outer container by urethane foam cushioning material. The test train is supported in the inner container by a series of transverse supports spaced along the length of the test train. Both the inner and outer containers are closed with bolted covers. The covers do not seal the containers in a leaktight manner. The gross weight of the shipment is about 8350 lb. The unirradiated fissile material content is less than 3 kg of UO 2 of up to 93.2 percent enrichment. This is a Type A quantity (transport group III and less than 3 curies) of radioactive material which does not require shielding, cooling or heating, or neutron absorption or moderation functions in its packaging. The maximum exterior dimensions of the container are 37 ft 11 in. long, 24 1 / 2 in. wide, and 19 3 / 4 in. high

Transfer of fissile material through shielding coatings in emergency heating of HTGR coated particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gudkov, A.N.; Zhuravkov, S.G.; Koptev, M.A.; Kurepin, A.D.

1990-01-01

The measurement results of leakage dynamics of fissile material from the coated particles within a temperature range of 1200 + 2000 deg. C are given. The methods of carrying out the experiments are briefly described. The relation of the leakage rate of uranium-235 from CP (coated particles) with the pyrocarbonic coatings has been obtained. (author)

Fissile material disposition program final immobilization form assessment and recommendation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cochran, S.G.; Dunlop, W.H.; Edmunds, T.A.; MacLean, L.M.; Gould, T.H.

1997-01-01

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in its role as the lead laboratory for the development of plutonium immobilization technologies for the Department of Energy's Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (MD), has been requested by MD to recommend an immobilization technology for the disposition of surplus weapons- usable plutonium. The recommendation and supporting documentation was requested to be provided by September 1, 1997. This report addresses the choice between glass and ceramic technologies for immobilizing plutonium using the can-in-canister approach. Its purpose is to provide a comparative evaluation of the two candidate technologies and to recommend a form based on technical considerations

Fissile fuel doubling time characteristics for reactor lifetime fuel logistics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heindler, M.; Harms, A.A.

1978-01-01

The establishment of nuclear fuel requirements and their efficient utilization requires a detailed knowledge of some aspects of fuel dynamics and processing during the reactor lifetime. It is shown here that the use of the fuel stockpile inventory concept can serve effectively for this fuel management purpose. The temporal variation of the fissile fuel doubling time as well as nonequilibrium core conditions are among the characteristics which thus become more evident. These characteristics - rather than a single figure-of-merit - clearly provide an improved description of the expansion capacity and/or fuel requirements of a nuclear reactor energy system

IAEA verification of weapon-origin fissile material in the Russian Federation and the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The Secretary of Energy of the United States, Spencer Abraham, Minister of the Russian Federation on Atomic Energy, Alexander Rumyantsev, and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, met in Vienna on 18 September 2001 to review progress on the Trilateral Initiative. The Initiative was launched in 1996 to develop a new IAEA verification system for weapon-origin material designated by the United States and the Russian Federation as released from their defence programmes. The removal of weapon-origin fissile material from the defence programmes of the Russian Federation and the United States is in furtherance of the commitment to disarmament undertaken by the two States pursuant to Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). IAEA verification under this Initiative is intended to promote international confidence that fissile material made subject by either of the two States to Agency verification remains irreversibly removed from nuclear weapon programmes

The preliminary design of real-time neutron fissile material monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Jun; Ren Zhongguo; Zhang Ming; Zhao Zhiping; Chen Qi

2013-01-01

In this paper we present the preliminary design to carry out real-time neutron fissile material monitoring system, The system includes hardware and data acquisition software. For the hardware, it is employed with He3 proportional tubes as neutron detectors, polyethylene as moderator, and, to achieve the remote counting, RM4036 counting modules are connected to the remote computer through the 485 ports. The software with real-time data display and storage, alarm and other functions are developed using Visual Basic 6.0. (authors)

Spontane abdominale arteriovenøse fistler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flarup, S; Lindholt, Jes Sanddal

1997-01-01

Spontaneous arteriovenous fistulas between major abdominal vessels (AAVF) complicates about 1% of abdominal aortic aneurysms. AAVF produces severe circulatory disturbances with high operative mortality. Preoperative diagnosis is important but difficult due to the varied nature of presentation. Fo...

Fissile materials in solution concentration measured by active neutron interrogation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romeyer Dherbey, J.; Passard, Ch.; Cloue, J.; Bignan, G.

1993-01-01

The use of the active neutron interrogation to measure the concentration of plutonium contained in flow solutions is particularly interesting for fuel reprocessing plants. Indeed, this method gives a signal which is in a direct relation with the fissile materials concentration. Moreover, it is less sensitive to the gamma dose rate than the other nondestructive methods. Two measure methods have been evolved in CEA. Their principles are given into details in this work. The first one consists to detect fission delayed neutrons induced by a 252 Cf source. In the second one fission prompt neutrons induced by a neutron generator of 14 MeV are detected. (O.M.)

Improvements of neutron activation techniques for the determination of fissile material concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papadopoulos, N.N.

1987-01-01

Certain experimental improvements, as variable sample size and irradiation position, automation and flexibility in radiation detection, broaden the measurable concentration range, increase the possible rate and accuracy of analysis and enlarge the application range of home-made nuclear analyzer for fissile material analysis by delayed fission neutron counting and for short-lived multielement analysis by neutron activation gamma-ray spectrometry. Intercomparisons of results by various methods and laboratories show the need for regular checks of techniques to ensure reliable measurements. (author)

In field application of differential Die-Away time technique for detecting gram quantities of fissile materials

Science.gov (United States)

Remetti, Romolo; Gandolfo, Giada; Lepore, Luigi; Cherubini, Nadia

2017-10-01

In the frame of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear defense European activities, the ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, is proposing the Neutron Active Interrogation system (NAI), a device designed to find transuranic-based Radioactive Dispersal Devices hidden inside suspected packages. It is based on Differential Die-Away time Analysis, an active neutron technique targeted in revealing the presence of fissile material through detection of induced fission neutrons. Several Monte Carlo simulations, carried out by MCNPX code, and the development of ad-hoc design methods, have led to the realization of a first prototype based on a 14 MeV d-t neutron generator coupled with a tailored moderating structure, and an array of helium-3 neutron detectors. The complete system is characterized by easy transportability, light weight, and real-time response. First results have shown device's capability to detect gram quantities of fissile materials.

IAEA technical meeting on fissile material strategies for sustainable nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganguly, Chaitanyamoy; Koyama, Kazutoshi

2005-01-01

A Technical Meeting (TM) on 'Fissile Material Management Strategies for Sustainable Nuclear Energy' was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna from 12 to 15 September 2005. Prior to the TM, three Working Groups (WG) composed of experts from 10 countries prepared Key Issues papers on: 1) Uranium Demand and Supply through 2050; 2) Back-end Fuel Cycle Options; and 3) Sustainable Nuclear Energy beyond 2050: Cross-cutting Issues. Some 36 papers, including 3 key issue papers, were presented during the TM in 3 different sessions. The present paper summarizes the deliberations of the TM. (author)

Operational Characteristics of an Accelerator Driven Fissile Solution System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimpland, Robert Herbert

2016-01-01

Operational characteristics represent the set of responses that a nuclear system exhibits during normal operation. Operators rely on this behavior to assess the status of the system and to predict the consequences of off-normal events. These characteristics largely refer to the relationship between power and system operating conditions. The static and dynamic behavior of a chain-reacting system, operating at sufficient power, is primarily governed by reactivity effects. The science of reactor physics has identified and evaluated a number of such effects, including Doppler broadening and shifts in the thermal neutron spectrum. Often these reactivity effects are quantified in the form of feedback coefficients that serve as coupling coefficients relating the neutron population and the physical mechanisms that drive reactivity effects, such as fissile material temperature and density changes. The operational characteristics of such nuclear systems usually manifest themselves when perturbations between system power (neutron population) and system operating conditions arise. Successful operation of such systems requires the establishment of steady equilibrium conditions. However, prior to obtaining the desired equilibrium (steady-state) conditions, an approach from zero-power (startup) must occur. This operational regime may possess certain limiting system conditions that must be maintained to achieve effective startup. Once steady-state is achieved, a key characteristic of this operational regime is the level of stability that the system possesses. Finally, a third operational regime, shutdown, may also possess limiting conditions of operation that must be maintained. This report documents the operational characteristics of a ''generic'' Accelerator Driven Fissile Solution (ADFS) system during the various operational regimes of startup, steady-state operation, and shutdown. Typical time-dependent behavior for each operational regime will be illustrated, and key system

Microsurgeon Hirudo medicinalis as a Natural Bioshuttle for Spontaneous Mass Vaccination against Influenza A Virus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sajjad Khani

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Recent report on existence of a stem region of hemagglutinin has arisen new hopes for vaccination of influenza A as it consist of a conserve fusion peptide shared across several influenza subtypes and can be targeted by human immune system. Methods: Given that traditional vaccination based on live attenuated viruses often fails to surpass such viral infection, a great deal of attention has been devoted to develop a safe yet efficient system for vaccination influenza A. We believe that a natural bioshuttle can be recruited for spontaneous mass vaccination. Results: Thus, here, we hypothesize that a bioengineered transgenic Hirudo medicinalis can be considered as an alive bioshuttle for in-situ vaccination against influenza A virus. By introducing the designated gene(s encoding the target fragment (i.e., stem region of hemagglutinin, this microsurgeon can act as a rapid microproducer of viral proteins for in-house mass vaccination through imparting the necessary proteins such as those, naturally presented in leech's saliva. Conclusion: This peculiar bioshuttle can be easily exploited as a medical modality choice at home resulting in greater patient compliance.

[Decidual natural killer cells in recurrent spontaneous abortions].

Science.gov (United States)

Janosević, Dragana Radović; Lilić, Vekoslav; Basić, Hakija; Pavlović, Aleksandra Tubić; Stefanović, Milan; Milosević, Jelena

2011-01-01

A repeated or habitual miscarriage (PSP) is defined as three or more consecutive losses of pregnancy. In the first three months of pregnancy, habitual miscarriages occur in about 1% of pregnant women, out of which 50% are of an unknown etiology. It is believed that among them, the greatest number is the consequence of an inadequate alloimmune response of a women to the pregnancy. The endocrine and immune systems are in a close interaction during the implantation and maintaining of pregnancy. This communication is the most obvious on endometrium of pregnancy decidua. The aim of the study was to identify the number and the subpopulation distribution of the decidual NK cells in the decidua by using an immunohistochemical method. The research included a group of 30 women who had had two spontaneous miscarriages consecutively in the first three months of their pregnancy, while the curettage after the third spontaneous abortion was histopathologically and immunohistochemically analyzed. The control group consisted of 20 women without a problematic reproductive anamnesis, who had had their pregnancy terminated for social reasons. The criteria for the eliminating from the research were the diagnosed uterus anomalies, positive screening on thrombophilia, as well as women suffering from diabetes melitus and the ones with the thyroid gland function disorder. The number and the phenotype structure of the uterus NK cells were significantly different between the decidua of a normal pregnancy and that in PSP. In the decidua in PSP, there were much more NK cells with the phenotype of the peripheral circulation CD57 and CD56dim, while in the decidua of the control group the dominant cells were the typical uNK cell subpopulation CD56bright. The above mentioned results show that the disregulation of the immunocompetent cells of the decidua, by creating an inadequate cytokine milieu, is one of the mechanism of rejecting the semiallogeneic blastocyst.

Nonintrusive verification attributes for excess fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicholas, N.J.; Eccleston, G.W.; Fearey, B.L.

1997-10-01

Under US initiatives, over two hundred metric tons of fissile materials have been declared to be excess to national defense needs. These excess materials are in both classified and unclassified forms. The US has expressed the intent to place these materials under international inspections as soon as practicable. To support these commitments, members of the US technical community are examining a variety of nonintrusive approaches (i.e., those that would not reveal classified or sensitive information) for verification of a range of potential declarations for these classified and unclassified materials. The most troublesome and potentially difficult issues involve approaches for international inspection of classified materials. The primary focus of the work to date has been on the measurement of signatures of relevant materials attributes (e.g., element, identification number, isotopic ratios, etc.), especially those related to classified materials and items. The authors are examining potential attributes and related measurement technologies in the context of possible verification approaches. The paper will discuss the current status of these activities, including their development, assessment, and benchmarking status

Remotely operated facility for in situ solidification of fissile uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGinnis, C.P.; Collins, E.D.; Patton, B.D.

1986-01-01

A heavily shielded, remotely operated facility, located within the Radiochemical processing Plant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has been designed and is being operated to convert approx.1000 kg of fissile uranium (containing approx.75% 235 U, approx.10% 233 U, and approx.140 ppM 232 U) from a nitrate solution (130 g of uranium per L) to a solid oxide form. This project, the Consolidated Edison Uranium Solidification Program (CEUSP), is being carried out in order to prepare a stable uranium form for longterm storage. This paper describes the solidification process selected, the equipment and facilities required, the experimental work performed to ensure successful operation, some problems that were solved, and the initial operations

Safety analysis report: packages 238Pu oxide shipping cask (packaging of fissile and other radioactive materials). Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, J.E.; Gates, A.A.

1975-06-01

Plutonium-238 (as PuO 2 powder) is shipped in triple-container stainless steel shipping casks in compliance with ERDA Manual Chapter 0529 (ERDAM 0529), Safety Standards for the Packaging of Fissile and Other Radioactive Materials. (U.S.)

Electric breeding of fissile materials with low Q, non-mainline fusion drivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benford, J.; Bailey, V.; Oliver, D.; DiCapua, M.; Cooper, R.; Lopez, O.; Lindsey, H.

1977-10-01

The application of two novel fusion reactor concepts to the production of fissile fuel for existing and planned fission reactors has been shown to be technically feasible and potentially economically competitive. The performance required of fusion based breeders has been derived in terms of the fusion gain, blanket neutron and energy multiplication, and the performance and economic parameters of the fission reactors. Electron beam heated, linear solenoid confined plasmas were one concept which showed the most promise. A shock heated, wall confined reactor also appeared attractive for breeding

Applications of Monte Carlo technique in the detection of explosives, narcotics and fissile material using neutron sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, Amar; Kashyap, Yogesh; Roy, Tushar; Agrawal, Ashish; Sarkar, P.S.; Shukla, Mayank

2009-01-01

The problem of illicit trafficking of explosives, narcotics or fissile materials represents a real challenge to civil security. Neutron based detection systems are being actively explored worldwide as a confirmatory tool for applications in the detection of explosives either hidden inside a vehicle or a cargo container or buried inside soil. The development of a system and its experimental testing is a tedious process and to develop such a system each experimental condition needs to be theoretically simulated. Monte Carlo based methods are used to find an optimized design for such detection system. In order to design such systems, it is necessary to optimize source and detector system for each specific application. The present paper deals with such optimization studies using Monte Carlo technique for tagged neutron based system for explosives and narcotics detection hidden in a cargo and landmine detection using backscatter neutrons. We will also discuss some simulation studies on detection of fissile material and photo-neutron source design for applications on cargo scanning. (author)

Spontaneous non-thermal leptogenesis in high-scale inflation models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, M.; Takahashi, F.; Yanagida, T.T.; Tokyo Univ.

2006-11-01

We argue that a non-thermal leptogenesis occurs spontaneously, without direct couplings of the inflation with right-handed neutrinos, in a wide class of high-scale inflation models such as the chaotic and hybrid inflation. It is only a finite vacuum expectation value of the inflaton, of more precisely, a linear term in the Kaehler potential, that is a prerequisite for the spontaneous non-thermal leptogenesis. To exemplify how it works, we show that a chaotic inflation model in supergravity naturally produces a right amount of baryon asymmetry via the spontaneous non-thermal leptogenesis. We also discuss the gravitino production from the inflation. (orig.)

Influence of the Density Law on Various Fissile Single Unit and Array Storage Methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, S.T.

2011-01-01

The advancement of computational technology has resulted in the wide-spread availability of powerful radiation transport Monte Carlo codes. Prevailing practices today rely heavily on Monte Carlo codes to provide the basis for assessing the reactivity of various fissile systems for nuclear criticality safety (NCS). In 1958, Weinberg and Wigner expressed their concerns on a 'deplorable trend in reactor design - the tendency to substitute a code for a theory'. Unfortunately, their concerns have largely become a reality in many modern NCS practices. lacking the time or information to understand the underlying neutron physics of the fissile system under consideration is indeed a deplorable trend. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that many features of criticality hand calculation methods are indeed based upon the fundamentals of the density law and that many correlations of important physics parameters can be more easily understood from such a perspective. Historically, the density law was recognized by many pioneers in the field, including during the Manhattan Project. However, it was by and large an 'oral tradition' in that bits and pieces of great physical insights of the pioneers were scattered in many earlier publications. This paper attempts to bring together some of the 'jewels' of the pioneers which might have been lost or forgotten.

Spontaneous regression of pulmonary bullae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satoh, H.; Ishikawa, H.; Ohtsuka, M.; Sekizawa, K.

2002-01-01

The natural history of pulmonary bullae is often characterized by gradual, progressive enlargement. Spontaneous regression of bullae is, however, very rare. We report a case in which complete resolution of pulmonary bullae in the left upper lung occurred spontaneously. The management of pulmonary bullae is occasionally made difficult because of gradual progressive enlargement associated with abnormal pulmonary function. Some patients have multiple bulla in both lungs and/or have a history of pulmonary emphysema. Others have a giant bulla without emphysematous change in the lungs. Our present case had treated lung cancer with no evidence of local recurrence. He had no emphysematous change in lung function test and had no complaints, although the high resolution CT scan shows evidence of underlying minimal changes of emphysema. Ortin and Gurney presented three cases of spontaneous reduction in size of bulla. Interestingly, one of them had a marked decrease in the size of a bulla in association with thickening of the wall of the bulla, which was observed in our patient. This case we describe is of interest, not only because of the rarity with which regression of pulmonary bulla has been reported in the literature, but also because of the spontaneous improvements in the radiological picture in the absence of overt infection or tumor. Copyright (2002) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

Validation of the 3D transport monte carlo code TRIPOLI-4.3 for moderated and unmoderated metallic fissile media configurations with JEF2.2 and ENDF/B-VI.4 cross section evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagnier, E.; Lee, Y.K.; Aguiar, L.; Vedrenne, N.

2003-01-01

This paper presents an extended validation of TRIPOLI-4.3 covering all the metallic fissile media configurations present in the CEA facilities. More than 300 ICSBEP benchmarks have been calculated with TRIPOLI-4.3 and compared to the experimental results. These benchmarks include high-enriched uranium fissile media and plutonium fissile media with a low content of plutonium 240. The configurations are calculated with continuous-energy cross-section libraries JEF2.2 and ENDF/B-VI.4 and compared to MCNP or SCALE results presented in the ICSBEP reports. (author)

Some methods for the detection of fissionable matter; Quelques methodes de detection des corps fissiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guery, M [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1967-03-01

A number of equipments or processes allowing to detect uranium or plutonium in industrial plants, and in particular to measure solution concentrations, are studied here. Each method has its own field of applications and has its own performances, which we have tried to define by calculations and by experiments. The following topics have been treated: {gamma} absorptiometer with an Am source, detection test by neutron multiplication, apparatus for the measurement of the {alpha} activity of a solution, fissionable matter detection by {gamma} emission, fissionable matter detection by neutron emission. (author) [French] On examine ici plusieurs appareils ou procedes qui permettent de detecter l'uranium ou le plutonium dans les installations industrielles, et en particulier de mesurer les concentrations de solutions. Chacune des methodes a son domaine d'application et ses performances, qu'on a tente de definir par le calcul et par des experiences. Les sujets traites sont les suivants: absorptiometre {gamma} a source d'americium, essais de detection par multiplication neutronique, appareil de mesure de l'activite {alpha} d'une solution, detection des matieres fissiles par leur emission {gamma}, detection des matieres fissiles par leur emission neutronique. (auteur)

Driving factors of the communities of phytophagous and predatory mites in a physic nut plantation and spontaneous plants associated.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Wilton P; Sarmento, Renato A; Teodoro, Adenir V; Neto, Marçal P; Ignacio, Maíra

2013-08-01

Seasonal changes in climate and plant diversity are known to affect the population dynamics of both pests and natural enemies within agroecosystems. In Brazil, spontaneous plants are usually tolerated in small-scale physic nut plantations over the year, which in turn may mediate interactions between pests and natural enemies within this agroecosystem. Here, we aimed to access the influence of seasonal variation of abiotic (temperature, relative humidity and rainfall) and biotic (diversity of spontaneous plants, overall richness and density of mites) factors on the communities of phytophagous and predatory mites found in a physic nut plantation and its associated spontaneous plants. Mite sampling was monthly conducted in dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous leaves of spontaneous plants as well as in physic nut shrubs over an entire year. In the dry season there was a higher abundance of phytophagous mites (Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae and Tetranychidae) on spontaneous plants than on physic nut shrubs, while predatory mites (Phytoseiidae) showed the opposite pattern. The overall density of mites on spontaneous plants increased with relative humidity and diversity of spontaneous plants. Rainfall was the variable that most influenced the density of mites inhabiting physic nut shrubs. Agroecosystems comprising spontaneous plants associated with crops harbour a rich mite community including species of different trophic levels which potentially benefit natural pest control due to increased diversity and abundance of natural enemies.

Severe acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis with complete spontaneous resolution: The natural course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franco, Mónica

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: We report on a case of unilateral acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC with spontaneous resolution of the lesions, and discuss the role of an altered versus adequate immune response as the major pathogenic factor.Methods: We describe a case of acute loss of visual acuity (VA in the left eye (LE in a 55-year-old healthy man.Results: The patient presented with VA of 20/20 in the right eye (RE and hand movements in the LE. Fundoscopy revealed a large yellowish placoid macular lesion with subretinal fluid in the LE, with no abnormalities detected in the RE. Fluorescein angiography showed early hypofluorescence with late staining in the affected area. The clinical findings progressed fast during the first week, with extension of the initial lesion outside the temporal retinal vascular arcades and the appearance of new lesions in the same eye. The patient abandoned the clinic for two weeks with no treatment. When observed again, VA of the LE had recovered to 20/20 and the lesions had completely resolved. Venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS tests results were positive and HIV antibody test titers negative. The diagnosis of ASPPC in the left eye was made. The patient accepted treatment with penicillin G only 45 days after the initial presentation. AV remained stable at 20/20 both eyes and no relapses of the lesions were observed during this period without therapy. The patient was followed for 3 months after treatment. He remained asymptomatic and the ophthalmic examination was unremarkable. Conclusions: The pathogenesis of ASPPC is still not understood. Our case showed a sequential pattern of the chorioretinal lesions, with initial aggravation and complete posterior spontaneous resolution, showing the natural course of the disease. These findings suggest the presence of an adequate ocular immune response in patients with ASPPC, not supporting the initially

Theoretical, physical and experimental study of fissile aqueous media; Etudes theorique, physique et experimentale des milieux fissiles aqueux

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caizergues, R. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1969-04-01

This thesis consists of a set of theoretical and experimental studies. a) Theoretical calculation methods used for cross-sections and the critical parameters; b) Comparison of the theoretical and experimental results: it is shown that the agreement between these results cannot be improved above a certain limit because of the accuracy with which are known the composition and the dimensions of the media and the microscopic cross-sections; c) Determination of the ratios {eta}{sup 9}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar, {eta}{sup 3}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar for fissile aqueous media ({eta}-bar: number of neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed, averaged over the reactor neutron spectrum). Evaluation of the accuracy to which these ratios are known; d) Effect of {sup 240}Pu: the measurements are carried out on Pu with a {sup 240}Pu content of 1.5 per cent, 3.11 per cent and 9.95 per cent; Calculation of the resonance integral I240 using the experimental results gives values in reasonable agreement with the results obtained by other more conventional methods. e) Measurement of the spectrum indices for aqueous media containing Pu, U5 and U3. With these latter it is possible to obtain mean fission cross-section ratios {sigma}f239-bar / {sigma}f235-bar for these different spectra. A calculation-experiment comparison is carried out using various theoretical methods. (author) [French] Cette these groupe un ensemble d'etudes theoriques et experimentales. a) Methodes theoriques de calcul utilisees pour les sections efficaces et les parametres critiques; b) Comparaisons des resultats theoriques et experimentaux: on montre que l'accord entre ces resultats ne peut etre ameliore au-dela de certaines limites vu la precision avec laquelle sont connues la composition et les dimensions des milieux et les sections efficaces macroscopiques; c) Determination des rapports {eta}{sup 9}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar, {eta}{sup 3}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar pour les milieux fissiles aqueux ({eta}: nombre de

Theoretical, physical and experimental study of fissile aqueous media; Etudes theorique, physique et experimentale des milieux fissiles aqueux

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caizergues, R [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1969-04-01

This thesis consists of a set of theoretical and experimental studies. a) Theoretical calculation methods used for cross-sections and the critical parameters; b) Comparison of the theoretical and experimental results: it is shown that the agreement between these results cannot be improved above a certain limit because of the accuracy with which are known the composition and the dimensions of the media and the microscopic cross-sections; c) Determination of the ratios {eta}{sup 9}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar, {eta}{sup 3}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar for fissile aqueous media ({eta}-bar: number of neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed, averaged over the reactor neutron spectrum). Evaluation of the accuracy to which these ratios are known; d) Effect of {sup 240}Pu: the measurements are carried out on Pu with a {sup 240}Pu content of 1.5 per cent, 3.11 per cent and 9.95 per cent; Calculation of the resonance integral I240 using the experimental results gives values in reasonable agreement with the results obtained by other more conventional methods. e) Measurement of the spectrum indices for aqueous media containing Pu, U5 and U3. With these latter it is possible to obtain mean fission cross-section ratios {sigma}f239-bar / {sigma}f235-bar for these different spectra. A calculation-experiment comparison is carried out using various theoretical methods. (author) [French] Cette these groupe un ensemble d'etudes theoriques et experimentales. a) Methodes theoriques de calcul utilisees pour les sections efficaces et les parametres critiques; b) Comparaisons des resultats theoriques et experimentaux: on montre que l'accord entre ces resultats ne peut etre ameliore au-dela de certaines limites vu la precision avec laquelle sont connues la composition et les dimensions des milieux et les sections efficaces macroscopiques; c) Determination des rapports {eta}{sup 9}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar, {eta}{sup 3}-bar / {eta}{sup 5}-bar pour les milieux fissiles aqueux ({eta}: nombre de neutrons emis

Addendum 2 to CSER 79-002: Extension of the 150 gram fissile limit used in room 187 of PFP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friar, D.E.

1994-01-01

The PFP operating organization requests that the limit set permitting 150 grams fissile be extended to the Hoods 4 and 5 of Room 187. The request for the limit change is explained in the attached request for analysis

Safety analysis report, packages. Drath and Schrader Double Lidded Drum (packaging of fissile and other radioactive materials). Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chalfant, G.G.

1985-07-01

The preceding Safety Analysis Report - Packages qualifies the Drath and Schrader Double Lidded Drum (see appendix E) as a Department of Transportation DOT 7A Type A packaging and/or ''Type A'' foreign made packaging. The allowable contents shall be: in solid form; non-fissile or exempt fissile material (as defined by 49 CFR 173.453); less than 700 pounds (318 kg) in weight; equal to or less than the A 1 or A 2 quantities of radioactive material as appropriate (see 49 CFR 173.435 for tables of A 1 /A 2 values); and hydrogen gas generation in radioactive waste shall be limited to a maximum of 2-1/2% and total gas pressure limited to 5 psig. Package marking shall be as specified in 49 CFR 178.350-3 or as specified by the foreign country of origin

Fission of 209 Bi by 60-270 MeV tagged photons: cross section measurement and analysis of photo fissility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terranova, M.L.; Tavares, O.A.P.

1996-07-01

Tagged photons produced by the ROKK-2 facility have been used to measure the photofission cross section of 209 Bi in the energy range 60-270 MeV. Photofission events were detected by using a nuclear fragment detector designed for fission experiments, based on multiwire spark counters. Fissility values have been deduced and compared with available data obtained in other laboratories by using monochromatic photons. These data, together with early measurements obtained near photofission threshold, have been analysed in the framework of a two-step model which considers the primary photo interaction occurring via the quasi-deuteron and/or photo mesonic processes, followed by a mechanism of evaporation-fission competition for the excited residual nucleus. The model was found to reproduce the main experimental features of 209 Bi photo fissility up to 300 MeV. (author). 52 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

Nuclear dissipation effects on fission and evaporation in systems of intermediate fissility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gelli N.

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The systems of intermediate fissility 132Ce and 158Er have been studied experimentally and theoretically in order to investigate the dissipation properties of nuclear matter. Cross sections of fusion-fission and evaporation residues channels together with charged particles multiplicities in both channels, their spectra, angular correlations and mass-energy distribution of fission fragments have been measured. Theoretical analysis has been performed using multi-dimensional stochastic approach with realistic treatment of particle evaporation. The results of analysis show that full one-body or unusually strong two-body dissipation allows to reproduce experimental data. No temperature dependent dissipation was needed.

A method for managing the storage of fissile materials using criticality indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philbin, J.S.; Harms, G.A.

1995-01-01

This paper describes a method for criticality control at fissile material storage facilities. The method involves the use criticiality indices for storage canisters. The logic, methodology, and results for selected canisters are presented. A concept for an interactive computer program using the method is also introduced. The computer program can be used in real time (using precalulated data) to select a Criticality Index (CI) for a container when it is delivered to or packaged at a site. Criticality safety is assured by controlling the sum of the CIs at each storage location below a defined Emit value when containers are moved

Disposition of surplus fissile materials via immobilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, L.W.; Kan, T.; Sutcliffe, W.G.; McKibben, J.M.; Danker, W.

1995-01-01

In the Cold War aftermath, the US and Russia have agreed to large reductions in nuclear weapons. To aid in the selection of long-term management options, the USDOE has undertaken a multifaceted study to select options for storage and disposition of surplus plutonium (Pu). One disposition alternative being considered is immobilization. Immobilization is a process in which surplus Pu would be embedded in a suitable material to produce an appropriate form for ultimate disposal. To arrive at an appropriate form, we first reviewed published information on HLW immobilization technologies to identify forms to be prescreened. Surviving forms were screened using multi-attribute utility analysis to determine promising technologies for Pu immobilization. We further evaluated the most promising immobilization families to identify and seek solutions for chemical, chemical engineering, environmental, safety, and health problems; these problems remain to be solved before we can make technical decisions about the viability of using the forms for long-term disposition of Pu. All data, analyses, and reports are being provided to the DOE Office of Fissile Materials Disposition to support the Record of Decision that is anticipated in Summer of 1996

Spontaneous germline excision of Tol1, a DNA-based transposable element naturally occurring in the medaka fish genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Kohei; Koga, Hajime; Nakamura, Kodai; Fujita, Akiko; Hattori, Akimasa; Matsuda, Masaru; Koga, Akihiko

2014-04-01

DNA-based transposable elements are ubiquitous constituents of eukaryotic genomes. Vertebrates are, however, exceptional in that most of their DNA-based elements appear to be inactivated. The Tol1 element of the medaka fish, Oryzias latipes, is one of the few elements for which copies containing an undamaged gene have been found. Spontaneous transposition of this element in somatic cells has previously been demonstrated, but there is only indirect evidence for its germline transposition. Here, we show direct evidence of spontaneous excision in the germline. Tyrosinase is the key enzyme in melanin biosynthesis. In an albino laboratory strain of medaka fish, which is homozygous for a mutant tyrosinase gene in which a Tol1 copy is inserted, we identified de novo reversion mutations related to melanin pigmentation. The gamete-based reversion rate was as high as 0.4%. The revertant fish carried the tyrosinase gene from which the Tol1 copy had been excised. We previously reported the germline transposition of Tol2, another DNA-based element that is thought to be a recent invader of the medaka fish genome. Tol1 is an ancient resident of the genome. Our results indicate that even an old element can contribute to genetic variation in the host genome as a natural mutator.

Aggressive natural killer-cell leukemia with jaundice and spontaneous splenic rupture: a case report and review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Li-min; Liu, Wei-ping; Yang, Qun-pei; Li, Hui-fang; Chen, Jun-jie; Tang, Yuan; Zou, Yan; Liao, Dian-Ying; Liu, Yan-mei; Zhao, Sha

2013-03-11

Aggressive natural killer cell leukemia/lymphoma (ANKL) is a rare aggressive form of NK-cell neoplasm. We report an uncommon case of 36-year-old male who showed jaundice and spontaneous splenic rupture. The diagnosis was established by the biopsy of liver and spleen. The monomorphous medium-size neoplastic cells infiltrated into portal areas and sinus of liver as well as the cords and sinus of the spleen. Necrosis, mitotic figures and significant apoptosis could be seen easily. These neoplastic cells demonstrated a typical immunophenotype of CD3ε+, CD56+, CD16+, Granzyme B+, TIA-1+. T-cell receptor γ (TCR-γ) gene rearrangement analysis showed germline configuration and the result of in situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER-ISH) was positive. The patient has undergone an aggressive clinical course and died of multi-organ function failure 14 days later after admission. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of ANKL with spontaneous splenic rupture, and we should pay more attention to recognize it. The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/2048154883890867.

Administrative Co-ordination of Fissile Material Management and Accounting in the U.K.A.E.A; Coordination Administrative de la Gestion et de la Comptabilite des Matieres Fissiles dans les Etabussements de l'Autorite de l'Energie Atomique du Royaume-Uni; Administrativnaya koordinatsiya kontrolya i ucheta delyashchikhsya materialov v upravlenii po atomnoj ehnergii soedinennogo korolevstva; Coordinacion Administrativa de la Gestion y la Contabilidad de Materiales Fisionables en la Comision de Energia Atomica del Reino Unido

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hood, St. C.C. [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, London (United Kingdom)

1966-02-15

The Authority are engaged as suppliers in fissile material production, distribution, recycle and reprocessing. As consumers, the Authority require fissile material for power reactors, a variety of prototypes, MTRs, zero-energy facilities and fuel development projects; and for other experimental and research purposes in laboratory quantities. Executive responsibility for these activities lies with the four Groups through which the Authority discharge these functions. It has been found useful to keep these activities under review in specialized inter-Group Committees, with a common secretariat. These Committees: (a) study all projects all proposals or work involving significant quantities of fissile material (plutonium and enriched uranium, other than natural U or U depleted in {sup 235}U) in the light of expected supplies over a number of years from all sources, including new production, scrap recovery and imports; and all uses including burn-up, losses and exports; (b) recommend the optimum allocation of specific amounts for approved purposes in relation to other calls upon available supplies, and having regard to the economic issues involved; (c) record and progress all approved allocations, and examine the nature, amount and purpose of all existing stockholdings in relation to current policies and objectives; (d) record and study all losses of fissile material during fabrication or other processing and the measures taken to reduce them; (e) assist in developing procedures and incentives to ensure that material is used economically and returned promptly. Each Group has considerable autonomy in its day-to-day use of fissile material. The administrative machinery described above provides a means by which the Authority's scientists, engineers, accountants and administrators concerned with fissile material problems can operate collectively in a common frame of reference with a minimum of paperwork. The paper is illustrated with a simplified flowsheet of the main flows

Spontaneous mutation by mutagenic repair of spontaneous lesions in DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastings, P.J.; Quah, S.-K.; Borstel, R.C. von

1976-01-01

It is stated that strains of yeast carrying mutations in many of the steps in pathways repairing radiation-induced damage to DNA have enhanced spontaneous mutation rates. Most strains isolated because they have enhanced spontaneous mutation carry mutations in DNA repair systems. This suggests that much spontaneous mutation arises by mutagenic repair of spontaneous lesions. (author)

Natural History of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Mexican Schoolchildren: Incidence and Spontaneous Clearance

Science.gov (United States)

Duque, Ximena; Vilchis, Jenny; Mera, Robertino; Trejo-Valdivia, Belem; Goodman, Karen J.; Mendoza, Maria-Eugenia; Navarro, Fabiola; Roque, Victoria; Moran, Segundo; Torres, Javier; Correa, Pelayo

2013-01-01

Objectives The aim of the present study was to estimate the incidence and spontaneous clearance rate of Helicobacter pylori infection and the effect of some variables on these outcomes in schoolchildren. Methods From May 2005 to December 2010, 718 schoolchildren enrolled in 3 public boarding schools in Mexico City participated in the follow-up. At the beginning of the study and every 6 months thereafter, breath samples were taken to detect H pylori infection; blood samples and anthropometric measurements were taken to evaluate nutritional status. Data on sociodemographic characteristics were collected. Results The prevalence of H pylori infection was 38%. The incidence rate was 6.36%/year. Schoolchildren with anemia or iron deficiency at the beginning of the study (who received iron supplements) showed a higher infection acquisition rate than those with normal iron nutritional status, hazard ratio (HR) 12.52 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.01%–39.12%), P <0.001 and HR 2.05 (95% CI 1.09%–3.87%), P = 0.027, respectively. The spontaneous clearance rate of the infection was 4.74%/year. The spontaneous clearance rate was higher in children who had iron deficiency (who received iron supplements), HR 5.02 (95% CI 1.33%–18.99%), P = 0.017, compared with those with normal nutritional iron status. It was lower in schoolchildren with ≥2 siblings compared with schoolchildren with 1 or no siblings, HR 0.23 (95% CI 0.08%–0.63%), P = 0.004. Conclusions H pylori infection status is dynamic in schoolchildren. Variables related to health status and infection transmission, such as iron status and number of siblings, are important for the incidence and spontaneous clearance of H pylori infection. PMID:22227999

Non-electrical uses of thermal energy generated in the production of fissile fuel in fusion--fission reactors: a comparative economic parametric analysis for a hybrid with or without synthetic fuel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tai, A.S.; Krakowski, R.A.

1979-01-01

A parametric analysis has been carried out for testing the sensitivity of the synfuel production cost in relation to crucial economic and technologic quantities (investment costs of hybrid and synfuel plant, energy multiplication of the fission blanket, recirculating power fraction of the fusion driver, etc.). In addition, a minimum synfuel selling price has been evaluated, from which the fission--fusion--synfuel complex brings about a higher economic benefit than does the fusion--fission hybrid entirely devoted to fissile-fuel and electricity generation. Assuming an electricity cost of 2.7 cents/kWh, an annual investment cost per power unit of 4.2 to 6 $/GJ (132 to 189 k$/MWty) for the fission--fusion complex and 1.5 to 3 $/GJ (47 to 95 k$/MWty) for the synfuel plant, the synfuel production net cost (i.e., revenue = cost) varies between 6.5 and 8.6 $/GJ. These costs can compete with those obtained by other processes (natural gas reforming, resid partial oxidation, coal gasification, nuclear fission, solar electrolysis, etc.). This study points out a potential use of the fusion--fission hybrid other than fissile-fuel and electricity generation

Experimental spectrum of reactor antineutrinos and spectra of main fissile isotopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sinev, V. V., E-mail: vsinev@pcbai10.inr.ruhep.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Nuclear Research (Russian Federation)

2013-05-15

Within the period between the years 1988 and 1990, the spectrum of positrons from the inverse-beta-decay reaction on a proton was measured at the Rovno atomic power plant in the course of experiments conducted there. The measured spectrum has the vastest statistics in relation to other neutrino experiments at nuclear reactors and the lowest threshold for positron detection. An experimental reactor-antineutrino spectrum was obtained on the basis of this positron spectrum and was recommended as a reference spectrum. The spectra of individual fissile isotopes were singled out from the measured antineutrino spectrum. These spectra can be used to analyze neutrino experiments performed at nuclear reactors for various compositions of the fuel in the reactor core.

A Spontaneous Joint Infection with Corynebacterium striatum▿

OpenAIRE

Scholle, David

2006-01-01

Corynebacterium striatum is a ubiquitous saprophyte with the potential to cause bacteremia in immunocompromised patients. Until now, spontaneous infection of a natural joint has not been reported. When phenotyping failed, gene sequencing was used to identify the species. The isolate demonstrated high-level resistance to most antibiotics.

Measuring emotional and cognitive empathy using dynamic, naturalistic, and spontaneous emotion displays.

Science.gov (United States)

Buck, Ross; Powers, Stacie R; Hull, Kyle S

2017-10-01

Most measures of nonverbal receiving ability use posed expressions as stimuli. As empathy measures, such stimuli lack ecological validity, as the participant is not actually experiencing emotion. An alternative approach uses natural and dynamic displays of spontaneous expressions. The Communication of Affect Receiving Ability Test (CARAT) uses as stimuli spontaneous facial expressions and gestures filmed by an unobtrusive camera of solitary participants responding to emotional images. This article reports the development and initial validation of the CARAT-Spontaneous, Posed, Regulated (CARAT-SPR), which measures both abilities to detect emotion from spontaneous displays (emotion communication accuracy) and to differentiate spontaneous, posed, and regulated displays (expression categorization ability). Although spontaneous displays are natural responses to emotional images, posed displays involve asking the sender to display "as if" responding to a particular sort of image when no image is in fact present (simulation), while Regulated displays involve asking the sender to display "as if" responding to a particular sort of image when an image of opposite valence is in fact present (masking). Expression categorization ability involves judging deception-simulation and masking-and conceptually involves a kind of perspective-taking or cognitive empathy. Emotion communication using spontaneous clips achieved a high level of accuracy and was strongly correlated with ratings of sender expressivity. Expression categorization ability was not significantly correlated with expressivity ratings and was modestly negatively correlated with emotion communication accuracy. In a brief version of the CARAT-SPR, women showed evidence of greater emotion signal detection, whereas men reported greater confidence in expression categorization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Development of a Fissile Materials Irradiation Capability for Advanced Fuel Testing at the MIT Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Linwen; Bernard, John A.; Hejzlar, Pavel; Kohse, Gordon

2005-01-01

A fissile materials irradiation capability has been developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Research Reactor (MITR) to support nuclear engineering studies in the area of advanced fuels. The focus of the expected research is to investigate the basic properties of advanced nuclear fuels using small aggregates of fissile material. As such, this program is intended to complement the ongoing fuel evaluation programs at test reactors. Candidates for study at the MITR include vibration-packed annular fuel for light water reactors and microparticle fuels for high-temperature gas reactors. Technical considerations that pertain to the design of the MITR facility are enumerated including those specified by 10 CFR 50 concerning the definition of a research reactor and those contained in a separate license amendment that was issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to MIT for these types of experiments. The former includes limits on the cross-sectional area of the experiment, the physical form of the irradiated material, and the removal of heat. The latter addresses experiment reactivity worth, thermal-hydraulic considerations, avoidance of fission product release, and experiment specific temperature scrams

Physics design of fissile mass-flow monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattingly, J.K.; March-Leuba, J.; Valentine, T.E.; Mihalczo, J.T.; Uckan, T.

1997-01-01

The system measures the flow rate and uranium-235 content in liquid or gas streams; it does not penetrate the process piping. A moderated fission neutron source is used to periodicially introduce a burst of thermal neutrons into the fluid stream to induce fission; delayed gamma emissions from the resulting fission fragments are detected by high-efficiency scintillators downstream of the neutron source. The fluid flow rate is measure from the time between initiation of the thermal neutron burst and detection of the fission product gamma emissions, and the U-235 content is inferred from the intensity of the gamma burst detected. Design of the fissile mass flow monitor requires satisfaction of several competing constraints. Efficient operation of the monitor requires that source-induced fission rate and detection efficiency be maximized while the source-induced background rate is simultaneoulsy minimized. Near optical nuclear design of the system was achieved using numerous Monte Carlo calculations and measurements. This paper addresses calculational aspects of the physics design for the system applied to UF 6 gas

Fetal megacystis : prediction of spontaneous resolution and outcome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fontanella, F.; Duin, L.; Adama van Scheltema, P. N.; Cohen-Overbeek, T. E.; Pajkrt, E.; Bekker, M.; Willekes, C.; Bax, C. J.; Bilardo, C. M.

2017-01-01

Objectives: To investigate the natural history of fetal megacystis from diagnosis in utero to postnatal outcome, and to identify prognostic indicators of spontaneous resolution and postnatal outcome after resolution. Methods: This was a national retrospective cohort study. Fetal megacystis was

Fetal megacystis : prediction of spontaneous resolution and outcome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fontanella, F; Duin, L; Adama van Scheltema, P N; Cohen-Overbeek, T E; Pajkrt, E; Bekker, M; Willekes, C; Bax, C J; Bilardo, C M

2017-01-01

Objectives To investigate the natural history of fetal megacystis from diagnosis in utero to postnatal outcome, and to identify prognostic indicators of spontaneous resolution and postnatal outcome after resolution. Methods This was a national retrospective cohort study. Fetal megacystis was defined

Neural activation and memory for natural scenes: Explicit and spontaneous retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Weymar, Mathias; Bradley, Margaret M; Sege, Christopher T; Lang, Peter J

2018-05-06

Stimulus repetition elicits either enhancement or suppression in neural activity, and a recent fMRI meta-analysis of repetition effects for visual stimuli (Kim, 2017) reported cross-stimulus repetition enhancement in medial and lateral parietal cortex, as well as regions of prefrontal, temporal, and posterior cingulate cortex. Repetition enhancement was assessed here for repeated and novel scenes presented in the context of either an explicit episodic recognition task or an implicit judgment task, in order to study the role of spontaneous retrieval of episodic memories. Regardless of whether episodic memory was explicitly probed or not, repetition enhancement was found in medial posterior parietal (precuneus/cuneus), lateral parietal cortex (angular gyrus), as well as in medial prefrontal cortex (frontopolar), which did not differ by task. Enhancement effects in the posterior cingulate cortex were significantly larger during explicit compared to implicit task, primarily due to a lack of functional activity for new scenes. Taken together, the data are consistent with an interpretation that medial and (ventral) lateral parietal cortex are associated with spontaneous episodic retrieval, whereas posterior cingulate cortical regions may reflect task or decision processes. © 2018 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Could a Proto-Ribosome Emerge Spontaneously in the Prebiotic World?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilana C. Agmon

2016-12-01

Full Text Available An indispensable prerequisite for establishing a scenario of life emerging by natural processes is the requirement that the first simple proto-molecules could have had a realistic probability of self-assembly from random molecular polymers in the prebiotic world. The vestige of the proto-ribosome, which is believed to be still embedded in the contemporary ribosome, is used to assess the feasibility of such spontaneous emergence. Three concentric structural elements of different magnitudes, having a dimeric nature derived from the symmetrical region of the ribosomal large subunit, were suggested to constitute the vestige of the proto-ribosome. It is assumed to have materialized spontaneously in the prebiotic world, catalyzing non-coded peptide bond formation and simple elongation. Probabilistic and energetic considerations are applied in order to evaluate the suitability of the three contenders for being the initial proto-ribosome. The analysis points to the simplest proto-ribosome, comprised of a dimer of tRNA-like molecules presently embedded in the core of the symmetrical region, as the only one having a realistic statistical likelihood of spontaneous emergence from random RNA chains. Hence it offers a feasible starting point for a continuous evolutionary path from the prebiotic matter, through natural processes, into the intricate modern translation system.

Interactions of low-power photons with natural opals—PBG materials, photonic control, natural metamaterials, spontaneous laser emissions, and band-gap boundary responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stem, Michelle R.

2012-01-01

Four views of each of the opal research specimens in white light (for in-article or cover), in the same order as the specimens depicted in Fig. 3 of the main manuscript. A.On the left: 1.5 carat oval cabochon precious fire opal. B.In the center: 2.5 carats faceted fancy shield precious fire contra luz with mild adularescence. C.On the right: 5.0 carats round cabochon precious crystal opal with blue adularescence. Highlights: ► Emission of micro-lasers from microspheroid cluster boundary zones (quantum dots). ► Lasers illuminated or fluoresced the intra-opal structures of microspheroid photonic glass clusters. ► Microspheroid boundaries are durable to low power light sources. ► Display of previously unknown low power photonic optic properties. ► The research specimens are natural metamaterials. - Abstract: One overall goal of this research was to examine types of naturally-occurring opals that exhibit photonic control to learn about previously-unknown properties of naturally occurring photonic control that may be developed for broader applications. Three different photon sources were applied consecutively to three different types of natural, flawless, gem-quality precious opals. Two photon sources were lasers (green and red) and one was simulated daylight tungsten white. As each type of precious opal was exposed to each of the photon sources, the respective refractions, reflections, and transmissions were studied. This research is the first to show that applying various pleochroic and laser photon sources to these types of opals revealed significant information regarding naturally occurring photonic control, metamaterials, spontaneous laser emissions, and microspheroid cluster (inter-PBG zone) boundary effects. Plus, minimizing ambient light and the use of low power photon sources were critical to observing the properties regarding this photonic materials research. This research yielded information applicable to the development of materials to advance

Requirements for the transport of surplus fissile materials in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, R.K.

1995-01-01

This paper discusses the requirements and issues associated with the transportation of surplus fissile materials in the United States. The paper describes the materials that will be transported, the permissible modes of transport for these materials, and the safety and security requirements for each mode of transport. The paper also identifies transportation issues associated with these requirements, including the differences in requirements corresponding to who owns the material and whether the transport is on-site or off-site. Finally, the paper provides a discussion that suggests that by adopting the spent fuel standard and stored weapon standard proposed by the National Academy of Sciences, the requirements for transportation become straightforward

Portal monitoring for detecting fissile materials and chemical explosives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albright, D.

1992-01-01

The portal monitoring of pedestrians, packages, equipment, and vehicles entering or leaving areas of high physical security has been common for many years. Many nuclear facilities rely on portal monitoring to prevent the theft or diversion of plutonium and highly enriched uranium. At commercial airports, portals are used to prevent firearms and explosives from being smuggled onto airplanes. An August 1989 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation requires US airlines to screen luggage on international flights for chemical explosives. This paper reports that portal monitoring is now being introduced into arms-control agreements. Because some of the portal-monitoring equipment that would be useful in verifying arms-control agreements is already widely used as part of the physical security systems at nuclear facilities and commercial airports, the authors review these uses of portal monitoring, as well as its role in verifying the INF treaty. Then the authors survey the major types of portal-monitoring equipment that would be most useful in detecting nuclear warheads or fissile material

The effect of spontaneous curvature on a two-phase vesicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, Geoffrey; Lowengrub, John

2015-01-01

Vesicles are membrane-bound structures commonly known for their roles in cellular transport and the shape of a vesicle is determined by its surrounding membrane (lipid bilayer). When the membrane is composed of different lipids, it is natural for the lipids of similar molecular structure to migrate towards one another (via spinodal decomposition), creating a multi-phase vesicle. In this article, we consider a two-phase vesicle model which is driven by nature's propensity to maintain a minimal state of elastic energy. The model assumes a continuum limit, thereby treating the membrane as a closed three-dimensional surface. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the complexity of the Helfrich two-phase vesicle model with non-zero spontaneous curvature and provide further evidence to support the relevance of spontaneous curvature as a modelling parameter. In this paper, we illustrate the complexity of the Helfrich two-phase model by providing multiple examples of undocumented solutions and energy hysteresis. We also investigate the influence of spontaneous curvature on morphological effects and membrane phenomena such as budding and fusion. (paper)

Recanalisation of spontaneously occluded vertebral artery dissection after subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Science.gov (United States)

Akiyama, Takenori; Onozuka, Satoshi; Horiguchi, Takashi; Yoshida, Kazunari

2012-10-01

Spontaneous occlusion is a rare manifestation of ruptured vertebral artery dissection (VAD). Its natural history and treatment strategy have yet to be established due to its rarity. Here, we report five lesions involving spontaneous occlusion of VAD after subarachnoid haemorrhage, among which three lesions showed recanalisation. Based on our experience and previous reports, spontaneous occlusion of ruptured VAD can be classified into two groups-one group with occlusion in the acute stage with a high incidence of recanalisation and another group with occlusion in the chronic stage with a relatively low incidence of recanalisation. The underlying mechanism is likely different in each group, and treatment strategies should also be tailored depending on the pathophysiology.

Safety analysis report: packages. Pu oxide and Am oxide shipping cask (Packaging of fissile and other radioactive materials). Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chalfant, G.G.

1980-05-01

The PuO 2 cask or SP 5320-2 and 3 cask is designed for surface shipment of americium or plutonium. The cask design was physically tested to demonstrate that it met the criteria specified in US ERDA Manual Chapter 0529, and Chapter I, Interstate Commerce Commission. The package has been assessed for transport of up to 357 grams of plutonium (403 grams PuO 2 powder) and up to 176 grams of americium (200 grams AmO 2 powder), having a maximum decay heat of 203 watts. Criticality evaluation alone would allow the shipment as Fissile Class II but the radiation level of the cask, measured at the time of shipment, may exceed 50 mrem/h at the surface and require shipment as Fissile Class III. Sample calculations address only the more restrictive of the two materials, which in most cases is 238 PuO 2

Non-proliferation issues for the disposition of fissile materials using reactor alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Duggan, R.A.; Tolk, K.M.

1996-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) is analyzing long-term storage on options for excess weapons-usable fissile materials. A number of the disposition alternatives are being considered which involve the use of reactors. The various reactor alternatives are all very similar and include front-end processes that could convert plutonium to a usable form for fuel fabrication, a MOX fuel fab facility, reactors to bum the MOX fuel and ultimate disposal of spent fuel in some geologic repository. They include existing, partially completed, advanced or evolutionary light water reactors and Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors. In addition to the differences in the type of reactors, other variants on these alternatives are being evaluated to include the location and number of the reactors, the location of the mixed oxide (MOX) fabrication facility, the ownership of the facilities (private or government) and the colocation and/or separation of these facilities. All of these alternatives and their variants must be evaluated with respect to non-proliferation resistance. Both domestic and international safeguards support are being provided to DOE's Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP) and includes such areas as physical protection, nuclear materials accountability and material containment and surveillance. This paper will focus on how the non-proliferation objective of reducing security risks and strengthening arms reduction will be accomplished and what some of the nonproliferation issues are for the reactor alternatives. Proliferation risk has been defined in terms of material form, physical environment, and the level of security and safeguards that is applied to the material. Metrics have been developed for each of these factors. The reactor alternatives will be evaluated with respect to these proliferation risk factors at each of the unit process locations in the alternative

Non-proliferation issues for the disposition of fissile materials using reactor alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.; Duggan, R.A.; Tolk, K.M.

1996-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) is analyzing long-term storage imposition options for excess weapons-usable fissile materials. A number of the disposition alternatives are being considered which involve the use of reactors. The various reactor alternatives are all very similar and include front-end processes that could convert plutonium to a usable form for fuel fabrication, a MOX fuel fab facility, reactors to burn the MOX fuel and ultimate disposal of spent fuel in some geologic repository. They include existing, partially completed, advanced or evolutionary light water reactors and Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors. In addition to the differences in the type of reactors, other variants on these alternatives are being evaluated to include the location and number of the reactors, the location of the mixed oxide (MOX) fabrication facility, the ownership of the facilities (private or government) and the colocation and/or separation of these facilities. All of these alternatives and their variants must be evaluated with respect to non-proliferation resistance. Both domestic and international safeguards support are being provided to DOE's Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP) and includes such areas as physical protection, nuclear materials accountability and material containment and surveillance. This paper will focus on how the non-proliferation objective of reducing security risks and strengthening arms reduction will be accomplished and what some of the non-proliferation issues are for the reactor alternatives. Proliferation risk has been defined in terms of material form, physical environment, and the level of security and safeguards that is applied to the material. Metrics have been developed for each of these factors. The reactor alternatives will be evaluated with respect to these proliferation risk factors at each of the unit process locations in the alternative

Comparative analysis of non-destructive methods to control fissile materials in large-size containers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batyaev V.F.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of various non-destructive methods to control fissile materials (FM in large-size containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW has been carried out. The difficulty of applying passive gamma-neutron monitoring FM in large containers filled with concreted RAW is shown. Selection of an active non-destructive assay technique depends on the container contents; and in case of a concrete or iron matrix with very low activity and low activity RAW the neutron radiation method appears to be more preferable as compared with the photonuclear one.

FUP1--an unified program for calculating all fast neutron data of fissile nucleus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Chonghai; Zuo Yixin

1990-01-01

FUP1 is the first edition of an unified program for calculating all the fast neutron data in ENDF/B-4 format for fissile nucleus. Following data are calculated with FUP1 code: the total cross section, elastic scattering cross section, nonelastic cross section, total including up to 40 isolated levels and continuum state inelastic cross sections. In FUP1 the energy region of incident neutron is restricted to 10 Kev to 20 Mev. The advantages of this program are its perfect function, convenient to users and running very fast

Problems in future negotiations for a treaty on the cut-off of fissile material for nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaper, A.

1999-01-01

A treaty to end the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, the so-called cutoff, is one of the most important next steps on the disarmament agenda.' But meanwhile, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) is deadlocked, and confidence in negotiations taking place in the near future is replaced by bewilderment at the inaction. The underlying conflict of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations can be summarized as nuclear disarmament versus nuclear nonproliferation. The same conflict is now blocking progress with negotiations in the CD on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). Nevertheless, the cut-off would be the major policy driver to insert transparency and irreversibility into the disarmament process,' and we need to harness all our efforts to overcome the current difficulties. The CTBT can be regarded as a tool to cap the qualitative nuclear arms race, for example to hinder the future development of qualitatively new nuclear explosives, and an FMCT can be seen as its quantitative counterpart, capping the amount of material available for new nuclear weapons. The complex questions involve political, technical, legal, and economic aspects and constitute a challenge for diplomats and decision makers

Behavioral Modulation by Spontaneous Activity of Dopamine Neurons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toshiharu Ichinose

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Dopamine modulates a variety of animal behaviors that range from sleep and learning to courtship and aggression. Besides its well-known phasic firing to natural reward, a substantial number of dopamine neurons (DANs are known to exhibit ongoing intrinsic activity in the absence of an external stimulus. While accumulating evidence points at functional implications for these intrinsic “spontaneous activities” of DANs in cognitive processes, a causal link to behavior and its underlying mechanisms has yet to be elucidated. Recent physiological studies in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster have uncovered that DANs in the fly brain are also spontaneously active, and that this activity reflects the behavioral/internal states of the animal. Strikingly, genetic manipulation of basal DAN activity resulted in behavioral alterations in the fly, providing critical evidence that links spontaneous DAN activity to behavioral states. Furthermore, circuit-level analyses have started to reveal cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate or regulate spontaneous DAN activity. Through reviewing recent findings in different animals with the major focus on flies, we will discuss potential roles of this physiological phenomenon in directing animal behaviors.

Spontaneous ignition of natural uranium in Tokai Research Establishment, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

At P.M. 7:23, May 30, 1989, a fire alarm functioned in the uranium enrichment laboratory building, and immediately investigation was carried out, as the result, smoke was confirmed in the nuclear fuel storage. In the nuclear fuel storage, there were five plastic bottles containing natural uranium chips, and smoke arose from three of them. Immediately fire fighting was carried out with powder extinguishers and others, the uranium chips which were regarded as the heat generating source were moved into stainless steel cans, and air was cut off with extinguishing sand, as the result, around P.M. 9:50, heat generation ceased. At present the detailed cause is being investigated, but it is considered that the uranium chips contained in plastic bottles reacted with air by some cause, and generated heat in the form of spontaneous ignition, as the result, the plastic bottles and the vinyl sheets placed under them smoked. The stack dust monitor in the uranium enrichment laboratory building showed the normal value, and there was not the effect to surrounding environment. The workers who did fire fighting with whole face masks were not affected by smoke. (K.I.)

Oklo natural reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Isao

1985-01-01

In 1954, Professor Kazuo, Kuroda of Arkansas University in USA published the possibility that spontaneously generated natural nuclear reactors existed in prehistoric age. In 1972, 18 years after that, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique published that in the Oklo uranium deposit in Gabon, Africa, a natural nuclear reactor was found. This fact was immediately informed to the whole world, but in Japan, its details have not necessarily been well known. The chance of investigating into this fact and visiting the Oklo deposit by the favor of COMUF, the owner of the Oklo deposit, was given, therefore, the state of the natural reactors, which has been known so far, is reported. At present, 12 natural reactors have been found in the vicinity of the Oklo deposit. The natural reactors were generated spontaneously in uranium deposits about 1.7 billion years ago when the isotopic abundance of U-235 was 3 %, and the chain reaction started naturally. When the concentration of U-235 lowered, the reaction stopped naturally. The abnormality in the U-235 abundance in natural uranium was found, and the cause was pursued. The evidence of the existence of natural reactors was shown. (Kako, I.)

Fissile Material Disposition Program: Deep borehole disposal Facility PEIS date input report for immobilized disposal. Immobilized disposal of plutonium in coated ceramic pellets in grout with canisters. Version 3.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wijesinghe, A.M.; Shaffer, R.J.

1996-01-01

Following President Clinton's Non-Proliferation Initiative, launched in September, 1993, an Interagency Working Group (IWG) was established to conduct a comprehensive review of the options for the disposition of weapons-usable fissile materials from nuclear weapons dismantlement activities in the United States and the former Soviet Union. The IWG review process will consider technical, nonproliferation, environmental budgetary, and economic considerations in the disposal of plutonium. The IWG is co-chaired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council. The Department of Energy (DOE) is directly responsible for the management, storage, and disposition of all weapons-usable fissile material. The Department of Energy has been directed to prepare a comprehensive review of long-term options for Surplus Fissile Material (SFM) disposition, taking into account technical, nonproliferation, environmental, budgetary, and economic considerations

Fissile Material Disposition Program: Deep borehole disposal Facility PEIS date input report for immobilized disposal. Immobilized disposal of plutonium in coated ceramic pellets in grout with canisters. Version 3.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wijesinghe, A.M.; Shaffer, R.J.

1996-01-15

Following President Clinton`s Non-Proliferation Initiative, launched in September, 1993, an Interagency Working Group (IWG) was established to conduct a comprehensive review of the options for the disposition of weapons-usable fissile materials from nuclear weapons dismantlement activities in the United States and the former Soviet Union. The IWG review process will consider technical, nonproliferation, environmental budgetary, and economic considerations in the disposal of plutonium. The IWG is co-chaired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council. The Department of Energy (DOE) is directly responsible for the management, storage, and disposition of all weapons-usable fissile material. The Department of Energy has been directed to prepare a comprehensive review of long-term options for Surplus Fissile Material (SFM) disposition, taking into account technical, nonproliferation, environmental, budgetary, and economic considerations.

Does Spontaneous Favorability to Power (vs. Universalism) Values Predict Spontaneous Prejudice and Discrimination?

Science.gov (United States)

Souchon, Nicolas; Maio, Gregory R; Hanel, Paul H P; Bardin, Brigitte

2017-10-01

We conducted five studies testing whether an implicit measure of favorability toward power over universalism values predicts spontaneous prejudice and discrimination. Studies 1 (N = 192) and 2 (N = 86) examined correlations between spontaneous favorability toward power (vs. universalism) values, achievement (vs. benevolence) values, and a spontaneous measure of prejudice toward ethnic minorities. Study 3 (N = 159) tested whether conditioning participants to associate power values with positive adjectives and universalism values with negative adjectives (or inversely) affects spontaneous prejudice. Study 4 (N = 95) tested whether decision bias toward female handball players could be predicted by spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values. Study 5 (N = 123) examined correlations between spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values, spontaneous importance toward power (vs. universalism) values, and spontaneous prejudice toward Black African people. Spontaneous positivity toward power (vs. universalism) values was associated with spontaneous negativity toward minorities and predicted gender bias in a decision task, whereas the explicit measures did not. These results indicate that the implicit assessment of evaluative responses attached to human values helps to model value-attitude-behavior relations. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Personality Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tooth display and lip position during spontaneous and posed smiling in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Der Geld, Pieter; Oosterveld, Paul; Berge, Stefaan J; Kuijpers-Jagtman, Anne M

2008-08-01

To analyze differences in tooth display, lip-line height, and smile width between the posed smiling record, traditionally produced for orthodontic diagnosis, and the spontaneous (Duchenne) smile of joy. The faces of 122 male participants were each filmed during spontaneous and posed smiling. Spontaneous smiles were elicited through the participants watching a comical movie. Maxillary and mandibular lip-line heights, tooth display, and smile width were measured using a digital videographic method for smile analysis. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare measurements of posed and spontaneous smiling. Maxillary lip-line heights during spontaneous smiling were significantly higher than during posed smiling. Compared to spontaneous smiling, tooth display in the (pre)molar area during posed smiling decreased by up to 30%, along with a significant reduction of smile width. During posed smiling, also mandibular lip-line heights changed and the teeth were more covered by the lower lip than during spontaneous smiling. Reduced lip-line heights, tooth display, and smile width on a posed smiling record can have implications for the diagnostics of lip-line height, smile arc, buccal corridors, and plane of occlusion. Spontaneous smiling records next to posed smiling records are therefore recommended for diagnostic purposes. Because of the dynamic nature of spontaneous smiling, it is proposed to switch to dynamic video recording of the smile.

Analysis of the differences in breeding ratio and fissile inventory between heterogeneous and homogeneous liquid-metal fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzanos, C.P.

1980-01-01

The differences in fissile inventory and breeding ratio, with respect to the differences in fertile inventory and neutron spectrum, between equivalent heterogeneous and homogeneous configurations were analyzed. To quantify the effect of spectral changes on reaction rate ratios, a calculational scheme based on properly prepared one-group cross-section sets was used

Analyse of the potential of the high temperature reactor with respect to the use of fissile materials; Analyse des capacites des reacteurs a haute temperature sous l'aspect de l'utilisation des matieres fissiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damian, F

2001-07-01

The high temperature reactors fuel is made of micro-particles dispersed in a graphite matrix. This configuration makes it possible to reach high burnup, higher than 700 GWj/t. Thanks to the decoupling between the thermal and the neutronic behaviors in the core many types of fuels can be used. These characteristics give to HTR reactor very good capacities to burn fissile materials. This work was done in the frame of the evaluation of HTR capacities to enhance the value of the plutonium stocks. These stocks are currently composed of the irradiated fuels discharged from classical PWR or the dismantling of the nuclear weapons and represent a significant energy potential. These studies concluded that high cycles length can be reached whatever the plutonium quality is (from 50 % to 94 % of fissile plutonium). In addition, it was demonstrated that the moderator temperature coefficient becomes locally positive for highly burn fuel while the core global moderator temperature coefficient remained negative in the operation range of the reactor. A significant share of this work was first devoted to the setting of a modeling of the fuel element but also of the reactor's core with the codes of system SAPHYR. The whole of modeling was validated by reference calculations. This work of code assessment is justified by a preliminary work that showed that the classical calculation scheme used for PWR could not be transposed directly to HTR core. (author)

Prospects for a fissile material cut-off: Achieving a successful NPT review process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalinowski, M.

1999-01-01

Finding new and creative ways to overcome the current deadlock in progress in nuclear arms control became the most important question in the past year. For a long time it had been expected that after the conclusion of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the next step would be to ban production of fissile materials for weapon purposes. Three strategies are proposed for reaching relevant cut-off agreements. First suggests possible fore for achievement of relevant agreements, second is the proposal to begin with international register of inventories and production capabilities for all relevant nuclear materials, and the third one is ti identify equivalent steps obligatory for all the parties involved

Development of a new simulation code for evaluation of criticality transients involving fissile solution boiling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basoglu, Benan; Yamamoto, Toshihiro; Okuno, Hiroshi; Nomura, Yasushi

1998-03-01

In this work, we report on the development of a new computer code named TRACE for predicting the excursion characteristics of criticality excursions involving fissile solutions. TRACE employs point neutronics coupled with simple thermal-hydraulics. The temperature, the radiolytic gas effects, and the boiling phenomena are estimated using the transient heat conduction equation, a lumped-parameter energy model, and a simple boiling model, respectively. To evaluate the model, we compared our results with the results of CRAC experiments. The agreement in these comparisons is quite satisfactory. (author)

Simulator for an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Fissile Solution System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, Steven Karl; Day, Christy M.; Determan, John C.

2015-01-01

LANL has developed a process to generate a progressive family of system models for a fissile solution system. This family includes a dynamic system simulation comprised of coupled nonlinear differential equations describing the time evolution of the system. Neutron kinetics, radiolytic gas generation and transport, and core thermal hydraulics are included in the DSS. Extensions to explicit operation of cooling loops and radiolytic gas handling are embedded in these systems as is a stability model. The DSS may then be converted to an implementation in Visual Studio to provide a design team the ability to rapidly estimate system performance impacts from a variety of design decisions. This provides a method to assist in optimization of the system design. Once design has been generated in some detail the C++ version of the system model may then be implemented in a LabVIEW user interface to evaluate operator controls and instrumentation and operator recognition and response to off-normal events. Taken as a set of system models the DSS, Visual Studio, and LabVIEW progression provides a comprehensive set of design support tools.

Simulator for an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Fissile Solution System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, Steven Karl [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Day, Christy M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Determan, John C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-09-14

LANL has developed a process to generate a progressive family of system models for a fissile solution system. This family includes a dynamic system simulation comprised of coupled nonlinear differential equations describing the time evolution of the system. Neutron kinetics, radiolytic gas generation and transport, and core thermal hydraulics are included in the DSS. Extensions to explicit operation of cooling loops and radiolytic gas handling are embedded in these systems as is a stability model. The DSS may then be converted to an implementation in Visual Studio to provide a design team the ability to rapidly estimate system performance impacts from a variety of design decisions. This provides a method to assist in optimization of the system design. Once design has been generated in some detail the C++ version of the system model may then be implemented in a LabVIEW user interface to evaluate operator controls and instrumentation and operator recognition and response to off-normal events. Taken as a set of system models the DSS, Visual Studio, and LabVIEW progression provides a comprehensive set of design support tools.

Comparative analysis of non-destructive methods to control fissile materials in large-size containers

Science.gov (United States)

Batyaev, V. F.; Sklyarov, S. V.

2017-09-01

The analysis of various non-destructive methods to control fissile materials (FM) in large-size containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW) has been carried out. The difficulty of applying passive gamma-neutron monitoring FM in large containers filled with concreted RAW is shown. Selection of an active non-destructive assay technique depends on the container contents; and in case of a concrete or iron matrix with very low activity and low activity RAW the neutron radiation method appears to be more preferable as compared with the photonuclear one. Note to the reader: the pdf file has been changed on September 22, 2017.

Superconducting cosmic strings in models with spontaneously broken family symmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bibilashvili, T.M.; Dvali, G.R.

1990-01-01

It is shown that superconducting cosmic strings with some specific properties naturally exist in models of spontaneously broken family symmetry. Superconductivity may be of both types - bosonic and fermionic. There exists a possible mechanism of string conservation. (orig.)

Shared risk aversion in spontaneous and induced abortion.

Science.gov (United States)

Catalano, Ralph; Bruckner, Tim A; Karasek, Deborah; Adler, Nancy E; Mortensen, Laust H

2016-05-01

Does the incidence of spontaneous abortion correlate positively over conception cohorts with the incidence of non-clinically indicated induced abortion as predicted by shared risk aversion? We find that the number of spontaneous and non-clinically indicated induced abortions correlates in conception cohorts, suggesting that risk aversion affects both the conscious and non-conscious mechanisms that control parturition. Much literature speculates that natural selection conserved risk aversion because the trait enhanced Darwinian fitness. Risk aversion, moreover, supposedly influences all decisions including those that individuals can and cannot report making. We argue that these circumstances, if real, would manifest in conscious and non-conscious decisions to invest in prospective offspring, and therefore affect incidence of induced and spontaneous abortion over time. Using data from Denmark, we test the hypothesis that monthly conception cohorts yielding unexpectedly many non-clinically indicated induced abortions also yield unexpectedly many spontaneous abortions. The 180 month test period (January 1995 through December 2009), yielded 1 351 800 gestations including 156 780 spontaneous as well as 233 280 induced abortions 9100 of which were clinically indicated. We use Box-Jenkins transfer functions to adjust the incidence of spontaneous and non-clinically indicated induced abortions for autocorrelation (including seasonality), cohort size, and fetal as well as gestational anomalies over the 180-month test period. We use cross-correlation to test our hypothesized association. We find a positive association between spontaneous and non-clinically indicated induced abortions. This suggests, consistent with our theory, that mothers of conception cohorts that yielded more spontaneous abortions than expected opted more frequently than expected for non-clinically indicated induced abortion. Limitations of our work include that even the world's best registration system

Apparatus and method for quantitatively evaluating total fissile and total fertile nuclide content in samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caldwell, J.T.; Cates, M.R.; Franks, L.A.; Kunz, W.E.

1985-01-01

Simultaneous photon and neutron interrogation of samples for the quantitative determination of total fissile nuclide and total fertile nuclide material present is made possible by the use of an electron accelerator. Prompt and delayed neutrons produced from resulting induced fissions are counted using a single detection system and allow the resolution of the contributions from each interrogating flux leading in turn to the quantitative determination sought. Detection limits for 239 Pu are estimated to be about 3 mg using prompt fission neutrons and about 6 mg using delayed delayed neutrons

A Spontaneous Ad Hoc Network to Share WWW Access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lloret Jaime

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a secure spontaneous ad-hoc network, based on direct peer-to-peer interaction, to grant a quick, easy, and secure access to the users to surf the Web. The paper shows the description of our proposal, the procedure of the nodes involved in the system, the security algorithms implemented, and the designed messages. We have taken into account the security and its performance. Although some people have defined and described the main features of spontaneous ad-hoc networks, nobody has published any design and simulation until today. Spontaneous networking will enable a more natural form of wireless computing when people physically meet in the real world. We also validate the success of our proposal through several simulations and comparisons with a regular architecture, taking into account the optimization of the resources of the devices. Finally, we compare our proposal with other caching techniques published in the related literature. The proposal has been developed with the main objective of improving the communication and integration between different study centers of low-resource communities. That is, it lets communicate spontaneous networks, which are working collaboratively and which have been created on different physical places.

User's guide for shipping Type B quantities of radioactive and fissile material, including plutonium, in DOT-6M specification packaging configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, D.L.

1994-09-01

The need for developing a user's guide for shipping Type B quantities of radioactive and fissile material, including plutonium, in a US Department of Transportation Specification 6M (DOT-6M) packaging was identified by the US Department of Energy (DOE)-Headquarters, Transportation Management Division (EM-261) because the DOT-6M packaging is widely used by DOE site contractors and the DOE receives many questions about approved packaging configuration. Currently, EM-261 has the authority to approve new DOT-6M packaging configurations for use by the DOE Operations Offices. This user's guide identifies the DOE-approved DOT-6M packaging configurations and explains how to have new configurations approved by the DOE. The packaging configurations described in this guide are approved by the DOE, and satisfy the applicable DOT requirements and the identified DOE restrictions. These packaging configurations are acceptable for transport of Type B quantities of radioactive and fissile material, including plutonium

Fissile fuel breeding and minor actinide transmutation in the life engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, Suemer; Khan, Mohammad Javed; Ahmed, Rizwan

2011-01-01

zone (50 cm), containing MA as fissionable fuel. A 3rd ODS layer (2 cm) separates the molten salt zone on the right side from the graphite reflector (30 cm). Calculations have been conducted for a fusion driver power of 500 MW th in S 8 -P 3 approximation using 238-neutron groups. Minor actinides (MA) out of the nuclear waste of LWRs are used as fissile carbide fuel in TRISO particles with volume fractions of 0, 2, 3, 4 and 5% have been dispersed homogenously in the Flibe coolant. For these cases, tritium breeding at startup is calculated as TBR = 1.134, 1.286, 1.387, 1.52 and 1.67, respectively. In the course of plant operation, TBR and fissile neutron multiplication factor decrease gradually. For a self-sustained reactor, TBR > 1.05 can be kept for all cases over 8 years. Higher fissionable fuel content in the molten salt leads also to higher blanket energy multiplication, namely M = 3.3, 4.6, 6.15 and 8.1 with 2, 3, 4 and 5% TRISO volume fraction at start up, respectively. For all investigated cases, fissile burn up exceeds 400 000 MW D/MT. Major damage mechanisms have been calculated as DPA = 50 and He = 176 appm per year. This implies a replacement of the first wall every 3 years.

A comparative study between transport and criticality safety indexes for fissile uranium nuclearly pure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moraes da Silva, T. de; Sordi, G.M.A.A. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN (Brazil)]. e-mail: tmsilva@ipen.br

2006-07-01

The international and national standards determine that during the transport of radioactive materials the package to be sent should be identified by labels of risks specifying content, activity and the transport index. The result of the monitoring of the package to 1 meter identifies the transport index, TI, which represents the dose rate to 1 meter of this. The transport index is, by definition, a number that represents a gamma radiation that crosses the superficial layer the radioactive material of the package to 1 meter of distance. For the fissile radioactive material that is the one in which a neutron causes the division of the atom, the international standards specify criticality safety index CSI, which is related with the safe mass of the fissile element. In this work it was determined the respective safe mass for each considered enrichment for the compounds of uranium oxides UO{sub 2}, U{sub 3}O{sub 8} and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}. In the study of CSI it was observed that the value 50 of the expression 50/N being N the number of packages be transported in subcriticality conditions it represents a fifth part of the safe mass of the element uranium or 9% of the smallest mass critical for a transport not under exclusive use. As conclusion of the accomplished study was observed that the transport index starting from 7% of enrichment doesn't present contribution and that criticality safety index is always greater than the transport index. Therefore what the standards demand to specify, the largest value between both indexes, was clearly identified in this study as being the criticality safety index. (Author)

Analyse of the potential of the high temperature reactor with respect to the use of fissile materials; Analyse des capacites des reacteurs a haute temperature sous l'aspect de l'utilisation des matieres fissiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damian, F

2001-07-01

The high temperature reactors fuel is made of micro-particles dispersed in a graphite matrix. This configuration makes it possible to reach high burnup, higher than 700 GWj/t. Thanks to the decoupling between the thermal and the neutronic behaviors in the core many types of fuels can be used. These characteristics give to HTR reactor very good capacities to burn fissile materials. This work was done in the frame of the evaluation of HTR capacities to enhance the value of the plutonium stocks. These stocks are currently composed of the irradiated fuels discharged from classical PWR or the dismantling of the nuclear weapons and represent a significant energy potential. These studies concluded that high cycles length can be reached whatever the plutonium quality is (from 50 % to 94 % of fissile plutonium). In addition, it was demonstrated that the moderator temperature coefficient becomes locally positive for highly burn fuel while the core global moderator temperature coefficient remained negative in the operation range of the reactor. A significant share of this work was first devoted to the setting of a modeling of the fuel element but also of the reactor's core with the codes of system SAPHYR. The whole of modeling was validated by reference calculations. This work of code assessment is justified by a preliminary work that showed that the classical calculation scheme used for PWR could not be transposed directly to HTR core. (author)

Use of borosilicate-glass raschig rings as a neutron absorber in solutions of fissile material-ANSI/ANS-8.5-1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothe, R.E.; Ketzlach, N.; Finch, D.R.

1996-01-01

American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS)-8.5 is one of several standards prepared by the ANS Standards Committee to provide guidance to enhance criticality safety in the handling, storage, and processing of fissionable materials. American National Standard ANSI/ANS-8.5-1996 provides this guidance for one type of boron-loaded glass in one type of geometry (cylindrical rings) for use with fissile solutions. Recorded use of such fixed neutron absorbers for criticality control of fissile solutions dates back to 1958, but some less-well-documented applications were recorded as early as the mid-1940's. The first solid efforts to collect recommendations derived from experience and technology were begun in 1965. Over the next 6 yr additional experiments were performed, and supporting data for the proposed standard were gathered. The first standard on this safety matter was issued in 1971. It was reaffirmed in 1979 with only minor changes and a slight expansion of the coverage. The standard was last revised in 1986

1987 target values for uncertainty components in fissile isotope and element assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bievre, P.; Baumann, S.; Gorgenyi, T.; Kuhn, E.; Deron, S.; Dalton, J.; Perrin, R.E.; Pietri, C.; De Regge, P.

1987-01-01

The Working Group on Techniques and Standards for Destructive Analysis (WGDA) of the European Safeguards Research and Development Association (ESARDA), which at present includes the representation of 37 nuclear analytical laboratories, has long been concerned with defining realistic performance characteristics of destructive analysis techniques. One of the terms of reference of the working groups is: ''to evaluate and recommend criteria for destructive analysis of nuclear materials for use by plant operators and safeguarding authorities''. Some of the most important and most badly needed criteria are those to be used for judging results of quantitative determinations of fissile isotope and element amounts. The working group has recognized and discussed this problem at several meetings and decided that it was appropriate to fix reasonable levels of performance as ''goals'' for nuclear analytical laboratories

A rational approximation to Reich-Moore collision matrix of non-fissile nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devan, K.; Keshavamurthy, R.S.

1999-01-01

The cross sections of many important nuclides are represented in Reich-Moore (RM) formalism in the recent American Evaluated Nuclear Data file, ENDF/B-VI. Processing of cross sections with RM resonance parameters is much more difficult than the other multilevel formalisms such as MLBW and Adler-Adler. In this paper, we derive a rational approximation to the RM collision matrix in the vicinity of a resonance. This simplifies the cross section processing. The energy range of the validity of this approximation in the vicinity of a resonance is also derived. Choosing Ni 58 as an example, results of our approximation for a non-fissile nuclide are given for two typical s-wave resonances. Our rational approximation method is found to work with good accuracies in the vicinity of resonances

Immobilization as a route to surplus fissile materials disposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, L.W.; Kan, T.

1995-01-01

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the US and Russia have agreed to large reductions in nuclear weapons. To aid in the selection of long-term management options, DOE has undertaken a multifaceted study to select options for storage and disposition of plutonium (Pu) in keeping with the national policy that Pu must be subjected to the highest standards of safety, security, and accountability. One alternative being considered is immobilization. To arrive at a suitable immobilization form, the authors first reviewed published information on high-level waste (HLW) immobilization technologies in order to identify 72 possible Pu immobilization forms to be prescreened. Surviving forms were screened using multiattribute analysis to determine the most promising technologies. Promising immobilization families were further evaluated to identify chemical, engineering, environmental, safety, and health problems that remain to be solved prior to making technical decisions as to the viability of using the form for long-term disposition of plutonium. All data, analyses, and reports are being provided to the DOE Fissile Materials Disposition Project Office to support the Record of Decision that is anticipated in the fourth quarter of FY96

Spontaneous acute spinal subdural hematoma: spontaneous recovery from severe paraparesis--case report and review.

Science.gov (United States)

Payer, Michael; Agosti, Reto

2010-11-01

Spontaneous idiopathic acute spinal subdural hematomas are highly exceptional. Neurological symptoms are usually severe, and rapid diagnosis with MRI is mandatory. Surgical evacuation has frequently been used therapeutically; however, spontaneous recovery in mild cases has also been reported. We present a case of spontaneous recovery from severe paraparesis after spontaneous acute SSDH, and review the English-speaking literature.

Electrically Controllable Spontaneous Magnetism in Nanoscale Mixed Phase Multiferroics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Q.; Chu, Y. H.; Heron, J. T.; Yang, S. Y.; Wang, C. H.; Kuo, C. Y.; Lin, H. J.; Yu, P.; Liang, C. W.; Zeches, R. J.; Chen, C. T.; Arenholz, E.; Scholl, A.; Ramesh, R.

2010-08-02

The emergence of enhanced spontaneous magnetic moments in self-assembled, epitaxial nanostructures of tetragonal (T-phase) and rhombohedral phases (R-phase) of the multiferroic BiFeO{sub 3} system is demonstrated. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism based photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) was applied to investigate the local nature of this magnetism. We find that the spontaneous magnetization of the R-phase is significantly enhanced above the canted antiferromagnetic moment in the bulk phase, as a consequence of a piezomagnetic coupling to the adjacent T-phase and the epitaxial constraint. Reversible electric field control and manipulation of this magnetic moment at room temperature is shown using a combination of piezoresponse force microscopy and PEEM studies.

Device for the determination of concentrations of fissile and/or fertile materials by means of x-ray fluorescence spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Von Baeckmann, A.; Neuber, J.

1975-01-01

In analyzing fissile and/or fertile materials in the thorium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium and curium group, time and accuracy are significant factors. An automated system for rapidly analyzing these materials includes: sample preparation device in which aliquots of sample are weighed and mixed with known amounts of solution; x-ray fluorescence spectrometer; and, a central control system for controlling the operation and analyzing the data. (auth)

Calculated nuclide production yields in relativistic collisions of fissile nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benlliure, J.; Schmidt, K.H. [Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung mbH, Darmstadt (Germany); Grewe, A.; Jong, M. de [Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). Inst. fuer Kernphysik; Zhdanov, S. [AN Kazakhskoj SSR, Alma-Ata (USSR). Inst. Yadernoj Fiziki

1997-11-01

A model calculation is presented which predicts the complex nuclide distribution resulting from peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions involving fissile nuclei. The model is based on a modern version of the abrasion-ablation model which describes the formation of excited prefragments due to the nuclear collisions and their consecutive decay. The competition between the evaporation of different light particles and fission is computed with an evaporation code which takes dissipative effects and the emission of intermediate-mass fragments into account. The nuclide distribution resulting from fission processes is treated by a semiempirical description which includes the excitation-energy dependent influence of nuclear shell effects and pairing correlations. The calculations of collisions between {sup 238}U and different reaction partners reveal that a huge number of isotopes of all elements up to uranium is produced. The complex nuclide distribution shows the characteristics of fragmentation, mass-asymmetric low-energy fission and mass-symmetric high-energy fission. The yields of the different components for different reaction partners are studied. Consequences for technical applications are discussed. (orig.)

The mass transfer mechanism of fissile material due to fission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafrir, N.H.

1975-01-01

A thin 252 Cf source of a mean thickness of an approXimately mono-atomic layer was used as an experimental model for the study of the basic mechanism of the knock-on process taking place in fissile material. Because of the thinness of the source it can be assumed that mainly primary knock-ons are formed. The ejection rate of knock-ons created by direct collisions between fission fragments and source atoms was measured as follows: the ejected atoms were collected in high vacuum on a catcher foil and 252 Cf determined by alpha spectroscopy using a silicon surface barrier detector. The number of 252 Cf ejected from the source in unit time could thus be determined while considering the anisotropy of ejection, geometry and counting efficiency. Taking into account the chemical composition of the source, eta(theor.) = 252 Cf atoms/fission was obtained. This result can be considered in reasonable agreement with experiment confirming that under the experimental conditions described, practically no knock-on cascade is formed. (B.G.)

Learning shapes spontaneous activity itinerating over memorized states.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomoki Kurikawa

Full Text Available Learning is a process that helps create neural dynamical systems so that an appropriate output pattern is generated for a given input. Often, such a memory is considered to be included in one of the attractors in neural dynamical systems, depending on the initial neural state specified by an input. Neither neural activities observed in the absence of inputs nor changes caused in the neural activity when an input is provided were studied extensively in the past. However, recent experimental studies have reported existence of structured spontaneous neural activity and its changes when an input is provided. With this background, we propose that memory recall occurs when the spontaneous neural activity changes to an appropriate output activity upon the application of an input, and this phenomenon is known as bifurcation in the dynamical systems theory. We introduce a reinforcement-learning-based layered neural network model with two synaptic time scales; in this network, I/O relations are successively memorized when the difference between the time scales is appropriate. After the learning process is complete, the neural dynamics are shaped so that it changes appropriately with each input. As the number of memorized patterns is increased, the generated spontaneous neural activity after learning shows itineration over the previously learned output patterns. This theoretical finding also shows remarkable agreement with recent experimental reports, where spontaneous neural activity in the visual cortex without stimuli itinerate over evoked patterns by previously applied signals. Our results suggest that itinerant spontaneous activity can be a natural outcome of successive learning of several patterns, and it facilitates bifurcation of the network when an input is provided.

Verification of classified fissile material using unclassified attributes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicholas, N.J.; Fearey, B.L.; Puckett, J.M.; Tape, J.W.

1998-01-01

This paper reports on the most recent efforts of US technical experts to explore verification by IAEA of unclassified attributes of classified excess fissile material. Two propositions are discussed: (1) that multiple unclassified attributes could be declared by the host nation and then verified (and reverified) by the IAEA in order to provide confidence in that declaration of a classified (or unclassified) inventory while protecting classified or sensitive information; and (2) that attributes could be measured, remeasured, or monitored to provide continuity of knowledge in a nonintrusive and unclassified manner. They believe attributes should relate to characteristics of excess weapons materials and should be verifiable and authenticatable with methods usable by IAEA inspectors. Further, attributes (along with the methods to measure them) must not reveal any classified information. The approach that the authors have taken is as follows: (1) assume certain attributes of classified excess material, (2) identify passive signatures, (3) determine range of applicable measurement physics, (4) develop a set of criteria to assess and select measurement technologies, (5) select existing instrumentation for proof-of-principle measurements and demonstration, and (6) develop and design information barriers to protect classified information. While the attribute verification concepts and measurements discussed in this paper appear promising, neither the attribute verification approach nor the measurement technologies have been fully developed, tested, and evaluated

Fast-neutron capture in fissile and fertile nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peelle, R.W.

1982-01-01

Extensive graphical and numerical presentations, available to the working group, assisted us in exploring the rich data base established through the labors of many skilled persons. Consistent with the meeting setting, the working group discussion concentrated on data for fast-breeder reactor (FBR) applications. All but 1 to 3% of the magnitude of cross section sensitivities of FBR parameters come from the energy region below approx. = 1.5 MeV, so the statistical model is the relevant theoretical concept. The Meeting emphasizes energies above approx. = 10 keV where resonance fluctuations are not a dominant factor. However, we should remember that approximately half the FBR sensitivity to 238 U capture data, as relfected in integral parameters, lies below 25 keV where resonance fluctuations are strong and resonance self-protection is a most important consideration in reactor physics. There are similar low-energy aspects to 239 Pu capture in that approx. = 30% of the FBR-parameter data sensitivity lies below approx. = 4 keV. Even with the discussion largely cofined to the approx. = 10 to 1500 keV region, the working group could only scratch the surface of the available body of information. The reader is referred to the papers presented at the Meeting and to the references contained therein in order to obtain a more detailed understanding of current issues related to fissile and fertile fast-neutron capture

Fate Of Fissile Material Bound To Monosodium Titanate During Cooper Catalyzed Peroxide Oxidation Of Tank 48H Waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor-Pashow, K.

2012-01-01

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), Tank 48H currently holds approximately 240,000 gallons of slurry which contains potassium and cesium tetraphenylborate (TPB). A copper catalyzed peroxide oxidation (CCPO) reaction is currently being examined as a method for destroying the TPB present in Tank 48H. Part of the development of that process includes an examination of the fate of the Tank 48H fissile material which is adsorbed onto monosodium titanate (MST) particles. This report details results from experiments designed to examine the potential degradation of MST during CCPO processing and the subsequent fate of the adsorbed fissile material. Experiments were conducted to simulate the CCPO process on MST solids loaded with sorbates in a simplified Tank 48H simulant. Loaded MST solids were placed into the Tank 48H simplified simulant without TPB, and the experiments were then carried through acid addition (pH adjustment to 11), peroxide addition, holding at temperature (50 C) for one week, and finally NaOH addition to bring the free hydroxide concentration to a target concentration of 1 M. Testing was conducted without TPB to show the maximum possible impact on MST since the competing oxidation of TPB with peroxide was absent. In addition, the Cu catalyst was also omitted, which will maximize the interaction of H 2 O 2 with the MST; however, the results may be non-conservative assuming the Cu-peroxide active intermediate is more reactive than the peroxide radical itself. The study found that both U and Pu desorb from the MST when the peroxide addition begins, although to different extents. Virtually all of the U goes into solution at the beginning of the peroxide addition, whereas Pu reaches a maximum of ∼34% leached during the peroxide addition. Ti from the MST was also found to come into solution during the peroxide addition. Therefore, Ti is present with the fissile in solution. After the peroxide addition is complete, the Pu and Ti are found to precipitate from

Spontaneous emission between an unusual pair of plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alves, D.T.; Farina, C.; Tort, A.C.

1999-08-01

We compute the modification in the spontaneous emission rate for a two-level atom when it is located between two parallel plates of different nature: a perfectly conducting plate (ε->∞) and infinitely permeable one (μ->∞). We also discuss the case of two infinity permeable plates. We compare our results with those found in the literature for the case of two perfectly conducting plates. (author)

IAEA verification of weapon-origin fissile material in the Russian Federation and the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Full text: Russian Federation Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev, United States Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei met in Vienna on 16 September 2002 to review the status of the Trilateral Initiative and agree on its future direction. The parties concluded that the task entrusted to the Trilateral Initiative Working Group in 1996 has been fulfilled. The work completed has demonstrated practical approaches for IAEA verification of weapon-origin fissile material designated as released from defence programmes in classified forms or at certain sensitive facilities. The work included the examination of technical, legal and financial issues associated with such verification. The removal of weapon-origin fissile material from defence programmes of the Russian Federation and the United States is in furtherance of the commitment to disarmament steps undertaken by the two States pursuant to Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). IAEA verification of the materials declared excess to nuclear weapons programmes and made subject to this Initiative would build international confidence that this material will never again be used in nuclear weapons. Minister Rumyantsev, Secretary Abraham and Director General ElBaradei recognized the value of the groundbreaking work completed over the last six years. Building on the work completed, they directed the technical experts to begin without delay discussions on future possible cooperation within the trilateral format. Minister Rumyantsev, Secretary Abraham and Director General ElBaradei agreed that the Principals would meet again in September 2003 to review progress within the trilateral format. (IAEA)

Spontaneous regression of retinopathy of prematurity:incidence and predictive factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui-Hong Ju

2013-08-01

Full Text Available AIM:To evaluate the incidence of spontaneous regression of changes in the retina and vitreous in active stage of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP and identify the possible relative factors during the regression.METHODS: This was a retrospective, hospital-based study. The study consisted of 39 premature infants with mild ROP showed spontaneous regression (Group A and 17 with severe ROP who had been treated before naturally involuting (Group B from August 2008 through May 2011. Data on gender, single or multiple pregnancy, gestational age, birth weight, weight gain from birth to the sixth week of life, use of oxygen in mechanical ventilation, total duration of oxygen inhalation, surfactant given or not, need for and times of blood transfusion, 1,5,10-min Apgar score, presence of bacterial or fungal or combined infection, hyaline membrane disease (HMD, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA, duration of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU and duration of ROP were recorded.RESULTS: The incidence of spontaneous regression of ROP with stage 1 was 86.7%, and with stage 2, stage 3 was 57.1%, 5.9%, respectively. With changes in zone Ⅲ regression was detected 100%, in zoneⅡ 46.2% and in zoneⅠ 0%. The mean duration of ROP in spontaneous regression group was 5.65±3.14 weeks, lower than that of the treated ROP group (7.34±4.33 weeks, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.201. GA, 1min Apgar score, 5min Apgar score, duration of NICU stay, postnatal age of initial screening and oxygen therapy longer than 10 days were significant predictive factors for the spontaneous regression of ROP (P＜0.05. Retinal hemorrhage was the only independent predictive factor the spontaneous regression of ROP (OR 0.030, 95%CI 0.001-0.775, P=0.035.CONCLUSION:This study showed most stage 1 and 2 ROP and changes in zone Ⅲ can spontaneously regression in the end. Retinal hemorrhage is weakly inversely associated with the spontaneous regression.

Analyse of the potential of the high temperature reactor with respect to the use of fissile materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damian, F.

2001-01-01

The high temperature reactors fuel is made of micro-particles dispersed in a graphite matrix. This configuration makes it possible to reach high burnup, higher than 700 GWj/t. Thanks to the decoupling between the thermal and the neutronic behaviors in the core many types of fuels can be used. These characteristics give to HTR reactor very good capacities to burn fissile materials. This work was done in the frame of the evaluation of HTR capacities to enhance the value of the plutonium stocks. These stocks are currently composed of the irradiated fuels discharged from classical PWR or the dismantling of the nuclear weapons and represent a significant energy potential. These studies concluded that high cycles length can be reached whatever the plutonium quality is (from 50 % to 94 % of fissile plutonium). In addition, it was demonstrated that the moderator temperature coefficient becomes locally positive for highly burn fuel while the core global moderator temperature coefficient remained negative in the operation range of the reactor. A significant share of this work was first devoted to the setting of a modeling of the fuel element but also of the reactor's core with the codes of system SAPHYR. The whole of modeling was validated by reference calculations. This work of code assessment is justified by a preliminary work that showed that the classical calculation scheme used for PWR could not be transposed directly to HTR core. (author)

Decree of 4 November 1982 on conditions for notification of possession of special fissile materials and source materials and for keeping accounts thereof

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

This Decree lays down a detailed procedure for notification of the possession and accounting of special fissile materials and source materials. The Decree was made in pursuance of Decree No. 185 of 13 February 1964 of the President of the Republic concerning radiation protection and licensing procedures. (NEA) [fr

Thermal influences on spontaneous rock dome exfoliation

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Brian D.; Stock, Greg M.; Eppes, Martha C.; Lewis, Scott W.; Corbett, Skye C.; Smith, Joel B.

2018-01-01

Rock domes, with their onion-skin layers of exfoliation sheets, are among the most captivating landforms on Earth. Long recognized as integral in shaping domes, the exact mechanism(s) by which exfoliation occurs remains enigmatic, mainly due to the lack of direct observations of natural events. In August 2014, during the hottest days of summer, a granitic dome in California, USA, spontaneously exfoliated; witnesses observed extensive cracking, including a ~8000 kg sheet popping into the air. Subsequent exfoliation episodes during the following two summers were recorded by instrumentation that captured—for the first time—exfoliation deformation and stress conditions. Here we show that thermal cycling and cumulative dome surface heating can induce subcritical cracking that culminates in seemingly spontaneous exfoliation. Our results indicate that thermal stresses—largely discounted in dome formation literature—can play a key role in triggering exfoliation and therefore may be an important control for shaping domes worldwide.

Molecular Darwinism: The Contingency of Spontaneous Genetic Variation

OpenAIRE

Arber, Werner

2011-01-01

The availability of spontaneously occurring genetic variants is an important driving force of biological evolution. Largely thanks to experimental investigations by microbial geneticists, we know today that several different molecular mechanisms contribute to the overall genetic variations. These mechanisms can be assigned to three natural strategies to generate genetic variants: 1) local sequence changes, 2) intragenomic reshuffling of DNA segments, and 3) acquisition of a segment of foreign...

Spontaneous external gallbladder perforation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noeldge, G.; Wimmer, B.; Kirchner, R.

1981-01-01

Spontaneous perforation of the gallbladder is one complication of cholelithiasis. There is a greater occurence of free perforation in the peritoneal cavity with bilary pertonitis, followed by the perforation into the stomach, small intestine and colon. A single case of the nowadays rare spontaneous perforation in and through the abdominal wall will be reported. Spontaneous gallbladder perforation appears nearly asymptomatic in its clinical course because of absent biliary peritonitis. (orig.) [de

In-Drift Accumulation of Fissile Material From Waste Packages Containing Plutonium Disposition Waste Forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

H.W. Stockman; S. LeStrange

2000-01-01

The objective of this calculation is to provide estimates of the amount of fissile material flowing out of the waste package (source term) and the accumulation of fissile elements (U and Pu) in a crushed-tuff invert. These calculations provide input for the analysis of repository impacts of the Pu-ceramic waste forms. In particular, the source term results are used as input to the far-field accumulation calculation reported in Ref. 51, and the in-drift accumulation results are used as inputs for the criticality calculations reported in Ref. 2. The results are also summarized and interpreted in Ref. 52. The scope of this calculation is the waste package (WP) Viability Assessment (VA) design, which consists of an outer corrosion-allowance material (CAM) and an inner corrosion-resistant material (CRM). This design is used in this calculation in order to be consistent with earlier Pu-ceramic degradation calculations (Ref. 15). The impact of the new Enhanced Design Alternative-I1 (EDA-11) design on the results will be addressed in a subsequent report. The design of the invert (a leveling foundation, which creates a level surface of the drift floor and supports the WP mounting structure) is consistent with the EDA-I1 design. The invert will be composed of crushed stone and a steel support structure (Ref. 17). The scope of this calculation is also defined by the nominal degradation scenario, which involves the breach of the WP (Section 10.5.1.2, Ref. 48), followed by the influx of water. Water in the WP may, in time, gradually leach the fissile components and neutron absorbers out of the ceramic waste forms. Thus, the water in the WP may become laden with dissolved actinides (e.g., Pu and U), and may eventually overflow or leak from the WP. Once the water leaves the WP, it may encounter the invert, in which the actinides may reprecipitate. Several factors could induce reprecipitation; these factors include: the high surface area of the crushed stone, and the presence of

In-Drift Accumulation of Fissile Material From Waste Packages Containing Plutonium Disposition Waste Form

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

H.W> Stockman; S. LeStrange

2000-09-28

The objective of this calculation is to provide estimates of the amount of fissile material flowing out of the waste package (source term) and the accumulation of fissile elements (U and Pu) in a crushed-tuff invert. These calculations provide input for the analysis of repository impacts of the Pu-ceramic waste forms. In particular, the source term results are used as input to the far-field accumulation calculation reported in Ref. 51, and the in-drift accumulation results are used as inputs for the criticality calculations reported in Ref. 2. The results are also summarized and interpreted in Ref. 52. The scope of this calculation is the waste package (WP) Viability Assessment (VA) design, which consists of an outer corrosion-allowance material (CAM) and an inner corrosion-resistant material (CRM). This design is used in this calculation in order to be consistent with earlier Pu-ceramic degradation calculations (Ref. 15). The impact of the new Enhanced Design Alternative-I1 (EDA-11) design on the results will be addressed in a subsequent report. The design of the invert (a leveling foundation, which creates a level surface of the drift floor and supports the WP mounting structure) is consistent with the EDA-I1 design. The invert will be composed of crushed stone and a steel support structure (Ref. 17). The scope of this calculation is also defined by the nominal degradation scenario, which involves the breach of the WP (Section 10.5.1.2, Ref. 48), followed by the influx of water. Water in the WP may, in time, gradually leach the fissile components and neutron absorbers out of the ceramic waste forms. Thus, the water in the WP may become laden with dissolved actinides (e.g., Pu and U), and may eventually overflow or leak from the WP. Once the water leaves the WP, it may encounter the invert, in which the actinides may reprecipitate. Several factors could induce reprecipitation; these factors include: the high surface area of the crushed stone, and the presence of

Operational experience in the non-destructive assay of fissile material in General Electric's nuclear fuel fabrication facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, J.P.

1976-01-01

Operational experience in the non-destructive assay of fissile material in a variety of forms and containers and incorporation of the assay devices into the accountability measurement system for General Electric's Wilmington Fuel Fabrication Facility measurement control programme is detailed. Description of the purpose and related operational requirements of each non-destructive assay system is also included. In addition, the accountability data acquisition and processing system is described in relation to its interaction with the various non-destructive assay devices and scales used for accountability purposes within the facility. (author)

Spontaneous cortical activity reveals hallmarks of an optimal internal model of the environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Berkes, Pietro; Orbán, Gergo; Lengyel, Máté; Fiser, József

2011-01-07

The brain maintains internal models of its environment to interpret sensory inputs and to prepare actions. Although behavioral studies have demonstrated that these internal models are optimally adapted to the statistics of the environment, the neural underpinning of this adaptation is unknown. Using a Bayesian model of sensory cortical processing, we related stimulus-evoked and spontaneous neural activities to inferences and prior expectations in an internal model and predicted that they should match if the model is statistically optimal. To test this prediction, we analyzed visual cortical activity of awake ferrets during development. Similarity between spontaneous and evoked activities increased with age and was specific to responses evoked by natural scenes. This demonstrates the progressive adaptation of internal models to the statistics of natural stimuli at the neural level.

Rethinking historical and cultural source of spontaneous mental models of water cycle: in the perspective of South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Nam, Younkyeong

2012-06-01

This review explores Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Eshach, Orion, and Alamour's paper titled "Cultural Differences and Students' Spontaneous Models of the Water Cycle: A Case Study of Jewish and Bedouin Children in Israel" by examining how the authors use the concept of spontaneous mental models to explain cultural knowledge source of Bedouin children's mental model of water compared to Jewish children's mental model of water in nature. My response to Ben-Zvi Assaraf et al.'s work expands upon their explanations of the Bedouin children's cultural knowledge source. Bedouin children's mental model is based on their culture, religion, place of living and everyday life practices related to water. I suggest a different knowledge source for spontaneous mental model of water in nature based on unique history and traditions of South Korea where people think of water in nature in different ways. This forum also addresses how western science dominates South Korean science curriculum and ways of assessing students' conceptual understanding of scientific concepts. Additionally I argue that western science curriculum models could diminish Korean students' understanding of natural world which are based on Korean cultural ways of thinking about the natural world. Finally, I also suggest two different ways of considering this unique knowledge source for a more culturally relevant teaching Earth system education.

Definition of spontaneous reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schindler, K.

1984-01-01

The author discusses his view of driven versus spontaneous. There is a close link between ''spontaneous'' and ''instability.'' One of the prominent examples for instability is the thermal convection instability. Just to remind you, if you heat a fluid layer from below, it takes a certain Rayleigh number to make it unstable. Beyond the onset point you find qualitatively new features. That is called ''spontaneous,'' and this is a bit more than semantics. It's a new qualitative property that appears and it is spontaneous although we have an energy flux through the system. It's a misconception, to call this ''driven'' pointing at the energy flux through it. Of course, the convection would not exist without this energy flux. But what makes it ''spontaneous'' is that without any particular external signal, a new qualitative feature appears. And this is what is called an ''instability'' and ''spontaneous.'' From these considerations the author got a little reassured of what distinction should be made in the field of the magnetosphere. If we have a smooth energy transport into the magnetosphere and suddenly we have this qualitatively new feature (change of B-topology) coming up; then, using this terminology we don't have a choice other than calling this spontaneous or unstable, if you like. If we ''tell'' the system where it should make its neutral line and where it should make its plasmoids, then, it is driven. And this provides a very clear-cut observational distinction. The author emphasizes the difference he sees is a qualitative difference, not only a quantitative one

Spontaneous emission of heavy-ions from uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho, H.G. de; Martins, J.B.; Souza, I.O. de; Tavares, O.A.P.

1974-09-01

The experimental evidences that 238 U, and perhaps other heavy nuclei, besides undergoing spontaneous fission, are also emitters of ions in the mass-range from 20 to 70. Estimates obtained by means of the WKB method indicate half-lifes of 10 15 to 10 18 years for some of these processes, which agree with our findings. Our results are supported by a systematic observation of neon and argon with abnormal isotopic abundance in both radioactive minerals and helium-bearing natural gases

Calculation of multiplication factors regarding criticality aiming at the storage of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima Barros, M. de.

1982-04-01

The multiplication factors of several systems with low enrichment, 3,5% and 3,2% in the isotope 235 U, aiming at the storage of fuel of ANGRA-I and ANGRA II, through the method of Monte Carlo, by the computacional code KENO-IV and the library of section of cross Hansen - Roach with 16 groups of energy. The method of Monte Carlo is specially suitable to the calculation of the factor of multiplication, because it is one of the most acurate models of solution and allows the description of complex tridimensional systems. Various tests of sensibility of this method have been done in order to present the most convenient way of working with KENO-IV code. The safety on criticality of stores of fissile material of the 'Fabrica de Elementos Combustiveis ', has been analyzed through the method of Monte Carlo. (Author) [pt

Connections with nature and environmental behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Liuna; Xu, Jingke; Ye, Lijuan; Zhou, Wenjun; Zhou, Kexin

2015-01-01

The influence of environmental attitudes on environmental behaviors has long been discussed. However, few studies have addressed the foundation of such attitudes. In the present study, we explored primitive belief underlying environmental attitudes, i.e., connections with nature, and its relationship with pro-environmental behaviors. Specifically, we used scales, a computerized Implicit Association Test, and a situational simulation experiment to examine both explicit and implicit connections with nature, both deliberate and spontaneous environmental behaviors, and to find correlations between environmental connectedness and environmental behaviors. Results showed that explicit connectedness was positively correlated with deliberate environmental behaviors, while implicit connectedness was positively correlated with spontaneous environmental behaviors. Additionally, explicit and implicit connectedness was independent of each other. In conclusion, the current study confirms the positive role played by connections with nature in promoting environmental behavior, and accordingly suggests means to encourage pro-environmental behavior by enhancing people's connectedness to nature.

Nonproliferation and arms control assessment of weapons-usable fissile material storage and excess plutonium disposition alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This report has been prepared by the Department of Energy's Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation (DOE-NN) with support from the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (DOE-MD). Its purpose is to analyze the nonproliferation and arms reduction implications of the alternatives for storage of plutonium and HEU, and disposition of excess plutonium, to aid policymakers and the public in making final decisions. While this assessment describes the benefits and risks associated with each option, it does not attempt to rank order the options or choose which ones are best. It does, however, identify steps which could maximize the benefits and mitigate any vulnerabilities of the various alternatives under consideration

PETROGRAPHY AND APPLICATION OF THE RIETVELD METHOD TO THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PHASES OF NATURAL CLINKER GENERATED BY COAL SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pinilla A. Jesús Andelfo

2010-06-01

Full Text Available

Fine-grained and mainly reddish color, compact and slightly breccious and vesicular pyrometamorphic rocks (natural clinker are associated to the spontaneous combustion of coal seams of the Cerrejón Formation exploited by Carbones del Cerrejón Limited in La Guajira Peninsula (Caribbean Region of Colombia. These rocks constitute remaining inorganic materials derived from claystones, mudstones and sandstones originally associated with the coal and are essentially a complex mixture of various amorphous and crystalline inorganic constituents. In this paper, a petrographic characterization of natural clinker, aswell as the application of the X-ray diffraction (Rietveld method by mean of quantitative analysis of its mineral phases were carried out. The RIQAS program was used for the refinement of X ray powder diffraction profiles, analyzing the importance of using the correct isostructural models for each of the existing phases, which were obtained from the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD. The results obtained in this investigation show that the Rietveld method can be used as a powerful tool in the quantitative analysis of phases in polycrystalline samples, which has been a traditional problem in geology.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Fullam, L

2012-01-31

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous\\/primary intracranial hypotension is characterised by orthostatic headache and is associated with characteristic magnetic resonance imaging findings. CASE REPORT: We present a case report of a patient with typical symptoms and classical radiological images. DISCUSSION: Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is an under-recognised cause of headache and can be diagnosed by history of typical orthostatic headache and findings on MRI brain.

Spontaneously Reported Adverse Reactions for Herbal Medicinal Products and Natural Remedies in Sweden 2007-15: Report from the Medical Products Agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Svedlund, Erika; Larsson, Maria; Hägerkvist, Robert

2017-06-01

In relation to the extensive use of herbal medicinal products in self-care, the safety information is limited and there is a need for improvement. This study describes spontaneously reported adverse reactions related to herbal medicinal products and natural remedies in Sweden. To evaluate the characteristics and frequency of adverse events recorded by the Swedish Medical Products Agency, where herbal medicinal products and natural remedies were suspected as causative agents. Adverse drug reactions reported to the Swedish Medical Product Agency during 2007-15 related to approved herbal medicinal products or natural remedies were included and analysed in the retrospective study. Reports had been assessed for causality when they were lodged and only reports that had been assessed as at least possible were included in the study. In total, 116 reports (concerning 259 adverse reactions) related to herbal medicinal products or natural remedies were found in the Swedish national pharmacovigilance database. The active ingredients most frequently suspected during the study period were black cohosh rhizome (15 reports), purple coneflower herb (14 reports) and a combination of extracts of pollen (13 reports). Adverse reactions related to skin and subcutaneous tissue were the most commonly reported reactions. No previously unknown safety problems have been discovered in the present study. This finding could be explained by a thorough pre-approval assessment of medicinal products and the fact that most herbal preparations in medicinal products have been in clinical use for many years (for traditional herbal medicinal products, the requirements are ≥30 years), i.e. adverse reactions are acknowledged and assessed before approval.

[Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Velkey, Bálint; Vitális, Eszter; Vitális, Zsuzsanna

2017-01-01

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis occurs most commonly in cirrhotic patients with ascites. Pathogens get into the circulation by intestinal translocation and colonize in peritoneal fluid. Diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is based on elevated polymorphonuclear leukocyte count in the ascites (>0,25 G/L). Ascites culture is often negative but aids to get information about antibiotic sensitivity in positive cases. Treatment in stable patient can be intravenous then orally administrated ciprofloxacin or amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, while in severe cases intravenous III. generation cephalosporin. Nosocomial spontaneous bacterial peritonitis often caused by Gram-positive bacteria and multi-resistant pathogens can also be expected thus carbapenem should be the choice of the empiric treatment. Antibiotic prophylaxis should be considered. Norfloxacin is used most commonly, but changes are expected due to increase in quinolone resistance. As a primary prophylaxis, a short-term antibiotic treatment is recommended after gastrointestinal bleeding for 5 days, while long-term prophylaxis is for patients with low ascites protein, and advanced disease (400 mg/day). Secondary prophylaxis is recommended for all patients recovered from spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Due to increasing antibiotic use of antibiotics prophylaxis is debated to some degree. Orv. Hetil., 2017, 158(2), 50-57.

Spontaneous Lorentz and diffeomorphism violation, massive modes, and gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bluhm, Robert; Fung Shuhong; Kostelecky, V. Alan

2008-01-01

Theories with spontaneous local Lorentz and diffeomorphism violation contain massless Nambu-Goldstone modes, which arise as field excitations in the minimum of the symmetry-breaking potential. If the shape of the potential also allows excitations above the minimum, then an alternative gravitational Higgs mechanism can occur in which massive modes involving the metric appear. The origin and basic properties of the massive modes are addressed in the general context involving an arbitrary tensor vacuum value. Special attention is given to the case of bumblebee models, which are gravitationally coupled vector theories with spontaneous local Lorentz and diffeomorphism violation. Mode expansions are presented in both local and spacetime frames, revealing the Nambu-Goldstone and massive modes via decomposition of the metric and bumblebee fields, and the associated symmetry properties and gauge fixing are discussed. The class of bumblebee models with kinetic terms of the Maxwell form is used as a focus for more detailed study. The nature of the associated conservation laws and the interpretation as a candidate alternative to Einstein-Maxwell theory are investigated. Explicit examples involving smooth and Lagrange-multiplier potentials are studied to illustrate features of the massive modes, including their origin, nature, dispersion laws, and effects on gravitational interactions. In the weak static limit, the massive mode and Lagrange-multiplier fields are found to modify the Newton and Coulomb potentials. The nature and implications of these modifications are examined.

Spontaneous droplet trampolining on rigid superhydrophobic surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Schutzius, Thomas M.; Jung, Stefan; Maitra, Tanmoy; Graeber, Gustav; Köhme, Moritz; Poulikakos, Dimos

2015-11-01

Spontaneous removal of condensed matter from surfaces is exploited in nature and in a broad range of technologies to achieve self-cleaning, anti-icing and condensation control. But despite much progress, our understanding of the phenomena leading to such behaviour remains incomplete, which makes it challenging to rationally design surfaces that benefit from its manifestation. Here we show that water droplets resting on superhydrophobic textured surfaces in a low-pressure environment can self-remove through sudden spontaneous levitation and subsequent trampoline-like bouncing behaviour, in which sequential collisions with the surface accelerate the droplets. These collisions have restitution coefficients (ratios of relative speeds after and before collision) greater than unity despite complete rigidity of the surface, and thus seemingly violate the second law of thermodynamics. However, these restitution coefficients result from an overpressure beneath the droplet produced by fast droplet vaporization while substrate adhesion and surface texture restrict vapour flow. We also show that the high vaporization rates experienced by the droplets and the associated cooling can result in freezing from a supercooled state that triggers a sudden increase in vaporization, which in turn boosts the levitation process. This effect can spontaneously remove surface icing by lifting away icy drops the moment they freeze. Although these observations are relevant only to systems in a low-pressure environment, they show how surface texturing can produce droplet-surface interactions that prohibit liquid and freezing water-droplet retention on surfaces.

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Scheurich, Rebecca; Zamm, Anna; Palmer, Caroline

2018-01-01

The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive) and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity. PMID:29681872

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Scheurich

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity.

A New Mouse Model That Spontaneously Develops Chronic Liver Inflammation and Fibrosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Fransén-Pettersson

Full Text Available Here we characterize a new animal model that spontaneously develops chronic inflammation and fibrosis in multiple organs, the non-obese diabetic inflammation and fibrosis (N-IF mouse. In the liver, the N-IF mouse displays inflammation and fibrosis particularly evident around portal tracts and central veins and accompanied with evidence of abnormal intrahepatic bile ducts. The extensive cellular infiltration consists mainly of macrophages, granulocytes, particularly eosinophils, and mast cells. This inflammatory syndrome is mediated by a transgenic population of natural killer T cells (NKT induced in an immunodeficient NOD genetic background. The disease is transferrable to immunodeficient recipients, while polyclonal T cells from unaffected syngeneic donors can inhibit the disease phenotype. Because of the fibrotic component, early on-set, spontaneous nature and reproducibility, this novel mouse model provides a unique tool to gain further insight into the underlying mechanisms mediating transformation of chronic inflammation into fibrosis and to evaluate intervention protocols for treating conditions of fibrotic disorders.

Genetics Home Reference: primary spontaneous pneumothorax

Science.gov (United States)

... Home Health Conditions Primary spontaneous pneumothorax Primary spontaneous pneumothorax Printable PDF Open All Close All Enable Javascript ... view the expand/collapse boxes. Description Primary spontaneous pneumothorax is an abnormal accumulation of air in the ...

Spontaneous light emission from fibers in MINOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avvakumov, S.; Barrett, W.L.; Belias, T.; Bower, C.; Erwin, A.; Kordosky, M.; Lang, K.; Lee, R.; Liu, J.; Miller, W.; Mualem, L.; Nichol, R.; Nelson, J.; Pearce, G.; Proga, M.; Rebel, B.; Ruddick, K.; Smith, C.; Thomas, J.; Vahle, P.; Webb, R.

2005-01-01

We report on the observation and measurements of unexpected background rates in the MINOS Far Detector. The noise level at the Far Detector is significantly greater than that expected from natural radioactivity and intrinsic photomultiplier dark current. We have conducted a series of additional tests which demonstrate that the excess rate is caused by spontaneous light emission in the wavelength-shifting fibers, which are used to read out signals from scintillator strips. This noise due to fibers exhibits an exponential fall off with time with a decay time constant of the order of 100 days

Ziprasidone-induced spontaneous orgasm.

Science.gov (United States)

Boora, K; Chiappone, K; Dubovsky, S; Xu, J

2010-06-01

Neuroleptic treatment in schizophrenic patients has been associated with sexual dysfunction, including impotence and decreased libido. Spontaneous ejaculation without sexual arousal during typical antipsychotic treatment is a rare condition that has been described with zuclopentixol, trifluoperazine, and thiothixene. Here, we are reporting a case of spontaneous orgasm with ziprasidone in a bipolar patient. This patient began to repeatedly experience spontaneous sexual arousal and orgasm, which she had never experienced in the past. Ziprasidone might be causing an increase in sexual orgasm by 5-HT2 receptor antagonism, which preclinical evidence suggests that it facilitates dopamine release in the cortex.

Age-related changes of the dental aesthetic zone at rest and during spontaneous smiling and speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Geld, Pieter; Oosterveld, Paul; Kuijpers-Jagtman, Anne Marie

2008-08-01

The aims of this study were to analyse lip line heights and age effects in an adult male population during spontaneous smiling, speech, and tooth display in the natural rest position and to determine whether lip line height follows a consistent pattern during these different functions. The sample consisted of 122 randomly selected male participants from three age cohorts (20-25 years, 35-40 years, and 50-55 years). Lip line heights were measured with a digital videographic method for smile analysis, which had previously been tested and found reliable. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out using correlation analysis, analysis of variance, and Tukey's post hoc tests. Maxillary lip line heights during spontaneous smiling were generally higher in the premolar area than at the anterior teeth. The aesthetic zone in 75 per cent of the participants included all maxillary teeth up to the first molar. Coherence in lip line heights during spontaneous smiling, speech, and tooth display in the natural rest position was confirmed by significant correlations. In older subjects, maxillary lip line heights decreased significantly in all situations. Lip line heights during spontaneous smiling were reduced by approximately 2 mm. In older participants, the mandibular lip line heights also changed significantly and teeth were displayed less during spontaneous smiling. Mandibular tooth display in the rest position increased significantly. Upper lip length increased significantly by almost 4 mm in older subjects, whereas upper lip elevation did not change significantly. The significant increasing lip coverage of the maxillary teeth indicates that the effects of age should be included in orthodontic treatment planning.

Characterization of a facility for the measurement of fission fragment transport effects: experimental determination of the fission rates for fissile and fissionable isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benetti, P.; Raselli, G.L.; Tigliole, A. Borio di; Cagnazzo, M.; Cesana, A.; Mongelli, S.; Terrani, M.

2002-01-01

The transfer facility of the LENA laboratory allows the direct neutron irradiation of fissionable material in the D channel of the TRIGA reactor. A test measurement carried out with a ionization chamber and a 239 Pu sample shows the possibility to use this tool for the study of the transport effects of the fission fragment emerging from thin layers of fissile materials. (author)

Respiratory and spontaneous arousals in patients with Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Mesquita, J; Porée, F; Carrault, G; Fiz, J A; Abad, J; Jané, R

2012-01-01

Sleep in patients with Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS) is frequently interrupted with arousals. Increased amounts of arousals result in shortening total sleep time and repeated sleep-arousal change can result in sleep fragmentation. According to the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) an arousal is a marker of sleep disruption representing a detrimental and harmful feature for sleep. The nature of arousals and its role on the regulation of the sleep process raises controversy and has sparked the debate in the last years. In this work, we analyzed and compared the EEG spectral content of respiratory and spontaneous arousals on a database of 45 SAHS subjects. A total of 3980 arousals (1996 respiratory and 1984 spontaneous) were analyzed. The results showed no differences between the spectral content of the two kinds of arousals. Our findings raise doubt as to whether these two kinds of arousals are truly triggered by different organic mechanisms. Furthermore, they may also challenge the current beliefs regarding the underestimation of the importance of spontaneous arousals and their contribution to sleep fragmentation in patients suffering from SAHS.

Nonproliferation and arms control assessment of weapons-usable fissile material storage and excess plutonium disposition alternatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-01-01

This report has been prepared by the Department of Energy`s Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation (DOE-NN) with support from the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (DOE-MD). Its purpose is to analyze the nonproliferation and arms reduction implications of the alternatives for storage of plutonium and HEU, and disposition of excess plutonium, to aid policymakers and the public in making final decisions. While this assessment describes the benefits and risks associated with each option, it does not attempt to rank order the options or choose which ones are best. It does, however, identify steps which could maximize the benefits and mitigate any vulnerabilities of the various alternatives under consideration.

Modal analysis of spontaneous emission in a planar microcavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rigneault, H.; Monneret, S.

1996-01-01

A complete set of cavity modes in planar dielectric microcavities is presented which naturally includes guided modes. We show that most of these orthonormal fields can be derived from a coherent superposition of plane waves incoming on the stack from the air and from the substrate. Spontaneous emission of a dipole located inside the microcavity is analyzed, in terms of cavity modes. Derivation of the radiation pattern in the air and in the substrate is presented. The power emitted into the guided modes is also determined. Finally, a numerical analysis of the radiative properties of an erbium atom located in a Fabry-Pacute erot multilayer dielectric microcavity is investigated. We show that a large amount of light is emitted into the guided modes of the structure, in spite of the Fabry-Pacute erot resonance, which increases the spontaneous emission rate in a normal direction. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

Computational and Experimental Investigations of the Coolant Flow in the Cassette Fissile Core of a KLT-40S Reactor

Science.gov (United States)

Dmitriev, S. M.; Varentsov, A. V.; Dobrov, A. A.; Doronkov, D. V.; Pronin, A. N.; Sorokin, V. D.; Khrobostov, A. E.

2017-07-01

Results of experimental investigations of the local hydrodynamic and mass-exchange characteristics of a coolant flowing through the cells in the characteristic zones of a fuel assembly of a KLT-40S reactor plant downstream of a plate-type spacer grid by the method of diffusion of a gas tracer in the coolant flow with measurement of its velocity by a five-channel pneumometric probe are presented. An analysis of the concentration distribution of the tracer in the coolant flow downstream of a plate-type spacer grid in the fuel assembly of the KLT-40S reactor plant and its velocity field made it possible to obtain a detailed pattern of this flow and to determine its main mechanisms and features. Results of measurement of the hydraulic-resistance coefficient of a plate-type spacer grid depending on the Reynolds number are presented. On the basis of the experimental data obtained, recommendations for improvement of the method of calculating the flow rate of a coolant in the cells of the fissile core of a KLT-40S reactor were developed. The results of investigations of the local hydrodynamic and mass-exchange characteristics of the coolant flow in the fuel assembly of the KLT-40S reactor plant were accepted for estimating the thermal and technical reliability of the fissile cores of KLT-40S reactors and were included in the database for verification of computational hydrodynamics programs (CFD codes).

Fissile fuel production and usage of thermal reactor waste fueled with UO2 by means of hybrid reactor system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ipek, O.

1997-01-01

The use of Fast Breeder Reactors to produce fissile fuel from nuclear waste and the operation of these reactors with a new neutron source are becoming today' topic. In the thermonuclear reactors, it is possible to use 2.45-14.1 MeV - neutrons which can be obtained by D-T, D-D Semicatalyzed (D-D) and other fusion reactions. To be able to do these, Hybrid Reactor System, which still has experimental and theoretical studies, have to be taken into consideration.In this study, neutronic analysis of hybrid blanket with grafit reflector, is performed. D-T driven fusion reaction is surrounded by UO 2 fuel layer and the production of ''2''3''9Pu fissile fuel from waste ''2''3''8U is analyzed. It is also compared to the other possible fusion reactions. The results show that 815.8 kg/year ''2''3''8Pu with D-T reaction and 1431.6 kg/year ''2''3''8Pu with semicatalyzed (D-D) reaction can be produced for 1000 MW fusion power. This means production of 2.8/ year and 4.94/ year LWR respectively. In addition, 1000 MW fusion flower is is multiplicated to 3415 MW and 4274 MW for D-T and semicatalyzed (D-D) reactions respectively. The system works subcritical and these values are 0.4115 and 0.312 in order. The calculations, ANISN-ORNL code, S 16 -P 3 approach and DLC36 data library are used

Effects of ultraviolet irradiation on natural killer cell function in systemic lupus erythematosus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nived, O.; Johansson, I.; Sturfelt, G. (University Hospital, Lund (Sweden). Dept. of Rheumatology)

1992-06-01

In vitro irradiation with long wavelength ultraviolet light (UV-A), in clinically relevant dosages, of a natural killer cell line containing cell preparations from 17 control subjects reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity with the cell line K562 as target. The spontaneous function of natural killer cells from 12 patients with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) correlated inversely with the one hour erythrocyte sedimentation rate, but not with glucocorticoid doses. After UV-A exposure, natural killer cells from patients with SLE exert either increased or decreased cytotoxicity, and the direction of change is inversely correlated with the spontaneous natural killer cell function. (Author).

Effects of ultraviolet irradiation on natural killer cell function in systemic lupus erythematosus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nived, O.; Johansson, I.; Sturfelt, G.

1992-01-01

In vitro irradiation with long wavelength ultraviolet light (UV-A), in clinically relevant dosages, of a natural killer cell line containing cell preparations from 17 control subjects reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity with the cell line K562 as target. The spontaneous function of natural killer cells from 12 patients with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) correlated inversely with the one hour erythrocyte sedimentation rate, but not with glucocorticoid doses. After UV-A exposure, natural killer cells from patients with SLE exert either increased or decreased cytotoxicity, and the direction of change is inversely correlated with the spontaneous natural killer cell function. (Author)

Spontaneous rib fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Katrancioglu, Ozgur; Akkas, Yucel; Arslan, Sulhattin; Sahin, Ekber

2015-07-01

Other than trauma, rib fracture can occur spontaneously due to a severe cough or sneeze. In this study, patients with spontaneous rib fractures were analyzed according to age, sex, underlying pathology, treatment, and complications. Twelve patients who presented between February 2009 and February 2011 with spontaneous rib fracture were reviewed retrospectively. The patients' data were evaluated according to anamnesis, physical examination, and chest radiographs. The ages of the patients ranged from 34 to 77 years (mean 55.91 ± 12.20 years), and 7 (58.4%) were male. All patients had severe cough and chest pain. The fractures were most frequently between 4th and 9th ribs; multiple rib fractures were detected in 5 (41.7%) patients. Eight (66.7%) patients had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 2 (16.7%) had bronchial asthma, and 2 (16.7%) had osteoporosis. Bone densitometry revealed a high risk of bone fracture in all patients. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or bronchial asthma had been treated with high-dose steroids for over a year. Spontaneous rib fracture due to severe cough may occur in patients with osteoporosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or bronchial asthma, receiving long-term steroid therapy. If these patients have severe chest pain, chest radiography should be performed to check for bone lesions. © The Author(s) 2015.

Spontaneously broken SU(2) gauge invariance and the ΔI=1/2 rule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shito, Okiyasu

1977-01-01

A model of nonleptonic weak interactions is proposed which is based on spontaneously broken SU(2) gauge invariance. The SU(2) group is taken analogously to the U-spin. To this scheme, the source of nonleptonic decays consists of only neutral currents, and violation of strangeness stems from weak vector boson mixings. The model can provide a natural explanation of the ΔI=1/2 rule and of the bulk of the ΔI=1/2 nonleptonic amplitude. As a consequence, a picture is obtained that weak interactions originate in spontaneously broken gauge invariance under orthogonal SU(2) groups. Finally, a possibility of unifying weak and electromagnetic interactions is indicated. (auth.)

Weak interaction models with spontaneously broken left-right symmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohapatra, R.H.

1978-01-01

The present status of weak interaction models with spontaneously broken left-right symmetry is reviewed. The theoretical basis for asymptotic parity conservation, manifest left-right symmetry in charged current weak interactions, natural parity conservation in neutral currents and CP-violation in the context of SU(2)/sub L/ circled x SU (2)/sub R/ circled x U(1) models are outlined in detail. Various directions for further research in the theoretical and experimental side are indicated

Dynamical Compactification as a Mechanism of Spontaneous Supersymmetry Breaking

CERN Document Server

Dvali, Gia

1997-01-01

Supersymmetry breaking and compactification of extra space-time dimensions may have a common dynamical origin if our universe is spontaneously generated in the form of a four-dimensional topological or non-topological defect in higher dimensional space-time. Within such an approach the conventional particles are zero modes trapped in the core of the defect. In many cases solutions of this type spontaneously break all supersymmetries of the original theory, so that the low-energy observer from ``our'' universe inside the core would not detect supersymmetry. Since the extra dimensions are not compact but, rather, inaccessible to low-energy observers, the usual infinite tower of the Kaluza-Klein excitations does not exist. Production of superpartners at the energy scale of SUSY restoration will be accompanied by four-momentum non-conservation. (Depending on the nature of the solution at hand, the non-conservation may either happen above some threshold energy or be continuous). In either case, the door to extra d...

Spontaneous tension haemopneumothorax.

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Benjamin Oliver; Itam, Sarah; Probst, Fey

2008-10-31

We present a patient with sudden onset progressive shortness of breath and no history of trauma, who rapidly became haemodynamically compromised with a pneumothorax and pleural effusion seen on chest radiograph. He was treated for spontaneous tension pneumothorax but this was soon revealed to be a tension haemopneumothorax. He underwent urgent thoracotomy after persistent bleeding to explore an apical vascular abnormality seen on CT scanning. To our knowledge this is the first such case reported.Aetiology and current approach to spontaneous haemothorax are discussed briefly.

Spontaneous and visually-driven high-frequency oscillations in the occipital cortex: Intracranial recording in epileptic patients

Science.gov (United States)

Nagasawa, Tetsuro; Juhász, Csaba; Rothermel, Robert; Hoechstetter, Karsten; Sood, Sandeep; Asano, Eishi

2011-01-01

SUMMARY High-frequency oscillations (HFOs) at ≧80 Hz of nonepileptic nature spontaneously emerge from human cerebral cortex. In 10 patients with extra-occipital lobe epilepsy, we compared the spectral-spatial characteristics of HFOs spontaneously arising from the nonepileptic occipital cortex with those of HFOs driven by a visual task as well as epileptogenic HFOs arising from the extra-occipital seizure focus. We identified spontaneous HFOs at ≧80 Hz with a mean duration of 330 msec intermittently emerging from the occipital cortex during interictal slow-wave sleep. The spectral frequency band of spontaneous occipital HFOs was similar to that of visually-driven HFOs. Spontaneous occipital HFOs were spatially sparse and confined to smaller areas, whereas visually-driven HFOs involved the larger areas including the more rostral sites. Neither spectral frequency band nor amplitude of spontaneous occipital HFOs significantly differed from those of epileptogenic HFOs. Spontaneous occipital HFOs were strongly locked to the phase of delta activity, but the strength of delta-phase coupling decayed from 1 to 3 Hz. Conversely, epileptogenic extra-occipital HFOs were locked to the phase of delta activity about equally in the range from 1 to 3 Hz. The occipital cortex spontaneously generates physiological HFOs which may stand out on electrocorticography traces as prominently as pathological HFOs arising from elsewhere; this observation should be taken into consideration during presurgical evaluation. Coupling of spontaneous delta and HFOs may increase the understanding of significance of delta-oscillations during slow-wave sleep. Further studies are warranted to determine whether delta-phase coupling distinguishes physiological from pathological HFOs or simply differs across anatomical locations. PMID:21432945

Alpha and gamma spectroscopy of fission isomers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makarenko, V.E.

1988-01-01

The attempts to discover in the experiment decay of fission isomers of heavy nuclei in the U-Am range by emitting α particles or γ quanta are considered. Some facilities for searching αdecay of spontaneously fissile isomers are given in brief. The first experimental results are discussed

Representation of the neutron cross sections of several fertile and fissile nuclei in the resonance regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Saussure, G.; Perez, R.B. (Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA))

1982-01-01

Several problems related to the measurement, analysis and evaluation of the neutron cross sections of the main fertile and fissile nuclides in the resonance region are reviewed. In particular the ENDF/B-V representation of these cross sections is discussed. In recent years little progress has been made in improving our knowledge of the resolved resonance parameters of the fertile nuclei. It is suggested that this absence of progress is due to a lack of adequate methodologies to deal with the systematic errors arising from uncertainties in the analysis of the measurements. The ENDF/B treatment of the unresolved resonance region is commented on and the authors recommend the validation of the unresolved resonance range evaluations with appropriate transmission and self-indication measurements.

Spontaneous burp phenomenon: analysis of experimental data and approach to theoretical interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shabalin, E.

2004-01-01

Cases of spontaneous release of energy (''burp'') were observed numerously in solid methane, water ice and other hydrogeneous compounds irradiated in fast neutron fields with absorbed dose 2-10 MGy. Nature of this phenomenon is that accumulation of radicals and thermal instability of a sample under due concentration of radicals culminate to autocatalytic reaction of their recombination. The most odious feature of this phenomenon is that irradiation time, before a burp occurs, varies significantly even in identical irradiation condition. Respectively, amount of released energy varies as well. For example, in URAM-2 experiments with water ice, irradiation time before appearance of spontaneous burp varied from 5 hours to 11 hours for equal samples and up to 20 hours for the smallest sample. Another feature of the phenomenon is that regularities for occurrence of spontaneous release of energy (that is, dependence on temperature, size of sample, absorbed dose) can't be extracted explicitly from experimental data, if applying known relations for critical concentration of radicals, namely: Semenov's and Frank-Kamenetski's conditions of thermal instability of a sample, Jackson's relation for chain process of recombination of uniformly distributed radicals, critical condition based on accounting for acceleration of a process of recombination in the regions of micro-cracks, and, finally, critical condition for irregular distribution of radicals proposed by the author of this article. Not one of these theories predicts casual character of a burp on macro-scale basis. So that, notwithstanding fair amount of experimental data on spontaneous burps, it is still impossible to derive well-balanced theory of this phenomenon. One attempt to understand a reason for the strange behavior of spontaneous burping is a probabilistic, cluster model of spontaneous release of energy, developed in the chapter 4 of this paper. Spontaneous burps observed during URAM-2 project and in solid methane

Spontaneous tension haemopneumothorax

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itam Sarah

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract We present a patient with sudden onset progressive shortness of breath and no history of trauma, who rapidly became haemodynamically compromised with a pneumothorax and pleural effusion seen on chest radiograph. He was treated for spontaneous tension pneumothorax but this was soon revealed to be a tension haemopneumothorax. He underwent urgent thoracotomy after persistent bleeding to explore an apical vascular abnormality seen on CT scanning. To our knowledge this is the first such case reported. Aetiology and current approach to spontaneous haemothorax are discussed briefly.

Spontaneous compactification to homogeneous spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mourao, J.M.

1988-01-01

The spontaneous compactification of extra dimensions to compact homogeneous spaces is studied. The methods developed within the framework of coset space dimensional reduction scheme and the most general form of invariant metrics are used to find solutions of spontaneous compactification equations

Molecular nature of X-ray-induced mutations compared with that of spontaneous ones in human c-hprt gene integrated into mammalian chromosomal DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Hiroshi; Kato, Takesi.

1992-01-01

X-ray-induced mutations were analysed at molecular levels in comparison with spontaneous mutations. Altered sequences were determined tentatively of 30 independent X-ray-induced mutations in a cDNA of the human hprt gene which was integrated into mammalian chromosome as a part of a shuttle vector. Mutations consisted of base substitutions (37 %), frameshifts (27 %), deletions (27 %) and others (10 %). All these mutational events were distributed randomly over the gene without there being hot spots. The spectrum and distribution of X-ray-induced mutations resembled those of spontaneous mutations. Among base substitutions, transversions were predominant and base substitution mutations occurred more at A:T sites than at G:C sites, which is also the case in spontaneous mutations. Most of the frameshift and deletion mutations induced by X-rays, as well as those spontaneously arising, were characterized by the existence of short direct repeats of several identical bases in a row at the sites of the mutations. A slippage misalignment mechanism in replication well accounts for the generation of these classes of mutations. Judging from the data accumulated so far, it can be concluded that X-ray-induced mutations at molecular levels are similar to those spontaneously occurring. (author)

Resuscitation of the three-scalar doublet model with spontaneous CP violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Branco, G.C.; Buras, A.J.; Gerard, J.M.

1985-01-01

We show that the three-scalar doublet model with spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation can be made consistent with the recent measurements of epsilon'/epsilon provided an interesting hierarchy among the vacuum expectation values present in the model is assumed. Simultaneously ΔM(Ksub(L)-Ksub(S)), the epsilon parameter and the electric dipole moment of the neutron are consistent with the experimental data. (orig.)

Control of radioactive wastes and coupling of neutron/gamma measurements: use of radiative capture for the correction of matrix effects that penalize the fissile mass measurement by active neutron interrogation; Controle des dechets radioactifs et couplage de mesures neutron/gamma: exploitation de la capture radiative pour corriger les effets de matrice penalisant la mesure de la masse fissile par interrogation neutronique active

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loche, F

2006-10-15

In the framework of radioactive waste drums control, difficulties arise in the nondestructive measurement of fissile mass ({sup 235}U, {sup 239}Pu..) by Active Neutron Interrogation (ANI), when dealing with matrices containing materials (Cl, H...) influencing the neutron flux. The idea is to use the neutron capture reaction (n,{gamma}) to determine the matrix composition to adjust the ANI calibration coefficient value. This study, dealing with 118 litres, homogeneous drums of density less than 0,4 and composed of chlorinated and/or hydrogenated materials, leads to build abacus linking the {gamma} ray peak areas to the ANI calibration coefficient. Validation assays of these abacus show a very good agreement between the corrected and true fissile masses for hydrogenated matrices (max. relative standard deviation: 23 %) and quite good for chlorinated and hydrogenated matrices (58 %). The developed correction method improves the measured values. It may be extended to 0,45 density, heterogeneous drums. (author)

Case of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamane, Kanji; Yoshimoto, Hisanori; Harada, Kiyoshi; Uozumi, Tohru [Hiroshima Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine; Kuwabara, Satoshi

1983-05-01

The authors experienced a case of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy diagnosed by CT scan with metrizamide and Conray. Patient was 23-year-old male who had been in good health until one month before admission, when he began to have headache and tinnitus. He noticed bilateral visual acuity was decreased about one week before admission and vomiting appeared two days before admission. He was admitted to our hospital because of bilateral papilledema and remarkable hydrocephalus diagnosed by CT scan. On admission, no abnormal neurological signs except for bilateral papilledema were noted. Immediately, right ventricular drainage was performed. Pressure of the ventricle was over 300mmH/sub 2/O and CSF was clear. PVG and PEG disclosed an another cavity behind the third ventricle, which was communicated with the third ventricle, and occlusion of aqueduct of Sylvius. Metrizamide CT scan and Conray CT scan showed a communication between this cavity and quadrigeminal and supracerebellar cisterns. On these neuroradiological findings, the diagnosis of obstructive hydrocephalus due to benign aqueduct stenosis accompanied with spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy was obtained. Spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy was noticed to produce arrest of hydrocephalus, but with our case, spontaneous regression of such symptoms did not appeared. By surgical ventriculocisternostomy (method by Torkildsen, Dandy, or Scarff), arrest of hydrocephalus was seen in about 50 to 70 per cent, which was the same results as those of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy. It is concluded that VP shunt or VA shunt is thought to be better treatment of obstructive hydrocephalus than the various kinds of surgical ventriculocisternostomy.

Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension without Orthostatic Headache

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tülay Kansu

2009-03-01

Full Text Available We report 2 cases of spontaneous intracranial hypotension that presented with unilateral abducens nerve palsy, without orthostatic headache. While sixth nerve palsies improved without any intervention, subdural hematoma was detected with magnetic resonance imaging. We conclude that headache may be absent in spontaneous intracranial hypotension and spontaneous improvement of sixth nerve palsy can occur, even after the development of a subdural hematoma

Patchwork-Type Spontaneous Activity in Neonatal Barrel Cortex Layer 4 Transmitted via Thalamocortical Projections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidenobu Mizuno

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Summary: Establishment of precise neuronal connectivity in the neocortex relies on activity-dependent circuit reorganization during postnatal development; however, the nature of cortical activity during this period remains largely unknown. Using two-photon calcium imaging of the barrel cortex in vivo during the first postnatal week, we reveal that layer 4 (L4 neurons within the same barrel fire synchronously in the absence of peripheral stimulation, creating a “patchwork” pattern of spontaneous activity corresponding to the barrel map. By generating transgenic mice expressing GCaMP6s in thalamocortical axons, we show that thalamocortical axons also demonstrate the spontaneous patchwork activity pattern. Patchwork activity is diminished by peripheral anesthesia but is mostly independent of self-generated whisker movements. The patchwork activity pattern largely disappeared during postnatal week 2, as even L4 neurons within the same barrel tended to fire asynchronously. This spontaneous L4 activity pattern has features suitable for thalamocortical (TC circuit refinement in the neonatal barrel cortex. : By two-photon calcium imaging of layer 4 neurons and thalamocortical axon terminals in neonatal mouse barrel cortex, Mizuno et al. find a patchwork-like spontaneous activity pattern corresponding to the barrel map, which may be important for thalamocortical circuit maturation. Keywords: activity-dependent development, spontaneous activity, synchronized activity, barrel cortex, thalamocortical axons, neonates, in vivo calcium imaging, awake, single-cell labeling, whisker monitoring

A Semi-analytic Criterion for the Spontaneous Initiation of Carbon Detonations in White Dwarfs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garg, Uma; Chang, Philip

2017-01-01

Despite over 40 years of active research, the nature of the white dwarf progenitors of SNe Ia remains unclear. However, in the last decade, various progenitor scenarios have highlighted the need for detonations to be the primary mechanism by which these white dwarfs are consumed, but it is unclear how these detonations are triggered. In this paper we study how detonations are spontaneously initiated due to temperature inhomogeneities, e.g., hotspots, in burning nuclear fuel in a simplified physical scenario. Following the earlier work by Zel’Dovich, we describe the physics of detonation initiation in terms of the comparison between the spontaneous wave speed and the Chapman–Jouguet speed. We develop an analytic expression for the spontaneous wave speed and utilize it to determine a semi-analytic criterion for the minimum size of a hotspot with a linear temperature gradient between a peak and base temperature for which detonations in burning carbon–oxygen material can occur. Our results suggest that spontaneous detonations may easily form under a diverse range of conditions, likely allowing a number of progenitor scenarios to initiate detonations that burn up the star.

A Semi-analytic Criterion for the Spontaneous Initiation of Carbon Detonations in White Dwarfs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garg, Uma; Chang, Philip, E-mail: umagarg@uwm.edu, E-mail: chang65@uwm.edu [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3135 North Maryland Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States)

2017-02-20

Despite over 40 years of active research, the nature of the white dwarf progenitors of SNe Ia remains unclear. However, in the last decade, various progenitor scenarios have highlighted the need for detonations to be the primary mechanism by which these white dwarfs are consumed, but it is unclear how these detonations are triggered. In this paper we study how detonations are spontaneously initiated due to temperature inhomogeneities, e.g., hotspots, in burning nuclear fuel in a simplified physical scenario. Following the earlier work by Zel’Dovich, we describe the physics of detonation initiation in terms of the comparison between the spontaneous wave speed and the Chapman–Jouguet speed. We develop an analytic expression for the spontaneous wave speed and utilize it to determine a semi-analytic criterion for the minimum size of a hotspot with a linear temperature gradient between a peak and base temperature for which detonations in burning carbon–oxygen material can occur. Our results suggest that spontaneous detonations may easily form under a diverse range of conditions, likely allowing a number of progenitor scenarios to initiate detonations that burn up the star.

Spontaneous intraorbital hematoma: case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinodan Paramanathan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Vinodan Paramanathan, Ardalan ZolnourianQueen's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire DE13 0RB, UKAbstract: Spontaneous intraorbital hematoma is an uncommon clinical entity seen in ophthalmology practice. It is poorly represented in the literature. Current evidence attributes it to orbital trauma, neoplasm, vascular malformations, acute sinusitis, and systemic abnormalities. A 65-year-old female presented with spontaneous intraorbital hematoma manifesting as severe ocular pains, eyelid edema, proptosis, and diplopia, without a history of trauma. Computer tomography demonstrated a fairly well defined extraconal lesion with opacification of the paranasal sinuses. The principal differential based on all findings was that of a spreading sinus infection and an extraconal tumor. An unprecedented finding of a spontaneous orbital hematoma was discovered when the patient was taken to theater. We discuss the rarity of this condition and its management.Keywords: hemorrhage, ophthalmology, spontaneous, intra-orbital, hematoma

Criticality safety calculations of 'poison tube tank' compared with annular tanks for storing fissile solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gopalakrishnan, C.R.; Joseph, G.

1995-01-01

A comparative study of the shielded area space required for storing fissile solution by the conventional annular tank and by poison tube tank is made. Poison tube tank is similar to commercial heat exchanger. The neutron poisons studied are gadolinium oxide and borax. Variation of multiplication factor for an array of annular tanks containing uranium nitrate or plutonium nitrate solutions are presented for annular widths of 10, 7.5 and 5 cm. It is concluded that for the given concentration, 5 cm annular width tanks are safe at a pitch distance of 120 and 90 cm for uranium and plutonium solutions respectively. Using these, as reference values, it is found that the shielded area saving for the poison tube tank is a factor of 12 and 8 for the given concentration of uranium and plutonium solutions respectively. (author)

16 October 1991-Royal Order amending the Royal Order of 30 March 1981 determining the duties and fixing the operating conditions of the Public Body for the Management of Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

The 1991 Royal Order amends and supplements the provisions of the 1981 0rder dealing with the duties and resources of ONDRAF, the National Body for the Management of Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials. Its duties include, inter alia, treatment and conditioning of waste on behalf of producers without the necessary facilities, training of specialists for such work for the producers with such facilities, transport, storage and disposal of radioactive waste, transport, and storage of certain enriched fissile materials and plutonium-bearing materials. As regards decommissioned nuclear installations, ONDRAF must establish management programmes for the resulting waste and must also decommission a nuclear installation at the operator's request or if he defaults. (NEA)

Screening for spontaneous preterm birth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Os, M.A.; van Dam, A.J.E.M.

2015-01-01

Preterm birth is the most important cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this thesis studies on spontaneous preterm birth are presented. The main objective was to investigate the predictive capacity of mid-trimester cervical length measurement for spontaneous preterm birth in a

Early pregnancy angiogenic markers and spontaneous abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Louise B; Dechend, Ralf; Karumanchi, S Ananth

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous abortion is the most commonly observed adverse pregnancy outcome. The angiogenic factors soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor are critical for normal pregnancy and may be associated to spontaneous abortion. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between...... maternal serum concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor, and subsequent spontaneous abortion. STUDY DESIGN: In the prospective observational Odense Child Cohort, 1676 pregnant women donated serum in early pregnancy, gestational week ..., interquartile range 71-103). Concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor were determined with novel automated assays. Spontaneous abortion was defined as complete or incomplete spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, or blighted ovum

Destructive and non-destructive methods of measuring the quantity and isotopic composition of fissile materials for purposes of national safeguards in the German Democratic Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villun, K.; Gruner, V.; Siebert, Kh.U.; Hoffmann, D.

1979-01-01

The authors give a brief description of the destructive and non-destructive methods of measuring the quantity and isotopic composition of fissile materials used in the nuclear materials accounting and control system of the German Democratic Republic. They cite examples of the use of gamma-spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence analysis, neutron activation, radiochemical techniques, mass-spectrometry and alpha-spectrometry. (author)

Spontaneous emission by moving atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meystre, P.; Wilkens, M.

1994-01-01

It is well known that spontaneous emission is not an intrinsic atomic property, but rather results from the coupling of the atom to the vacuum modes of the electromagnetic field. As such, it can be modified by tailoring the electromagnetic environment into which the atom can radiate. This was already realized by Purcell, who noted that the spontaneous emission rate can be enhanced if the atom placed inside a cavity is resonant with one of the cavity is resonant with one of the cavity modes, and by Kleppner, who discussed the opposite case of inhibited spontaneous emission. It has also been recognized that spontaneous emission need not be an irreversible process. Indeed, a system consisting of a single atom coupled to a single mode of the electromagnetic field undergoes a periodic exchange of excitation between the atom and the field. This periodic exchange remains dominant as long as the strength of the coupling between the atom and a cavity mode is itself dominant. 23 refs., 6 figs

A Case of Multiple Spontaneous Keloid Scars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulhadi Jfri

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Keloid scars result from an abnormal healing response to cutaneous injury or inflammation that extends beyond the borders of the original wound. Spontaneous keloid scars forming in the absence of any previous trauma or surgical procedure are rare. Certain syndromes have been associated with this phenomenon, and few reports have discussed the evidence of single spontaneous keloid scar, which raises the question whether they are really spontaneous. Here, we present a 27-year-old mentally retarded single female with orbital hypertelorism, broad nasal bridge, repaired cleft lip and high-arched palate who presented with progressive multiple spontaneous keloid scars in different parts of her body which were confirmed histologically by the presence of typical keloidal collagen. This report supports the fact that keloid scars can appear spontaneously and are possibly linked to a genetic factor. Furthermore, it describes a new presentation of spontaneous keloid scars in the form of multiple large lesions in different sites of the body.

Economic evaluation of fissile fuel production using resistive magnet tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doyle, J.C. Jr.

1985-06-01

The application of resistive magnet tokamaks to fissile fuel production has been studied. Resistive magnets offer potential advantages over superconducting magnets in terms of robustness, less technology development required and possibility of demountable joints. Optimization studies within conservatively specified constraints for a compact machine result in a major radius of 3.81 m and 618 MW fusion power and a blanket space envelope of 0.35 m inboard and 0.75 m outboard. This machine is called the Resistive magnet Tokamak Fusion Breeder (RTFB). A computer code was developed to estimate the cost of the resistive magnet tokamak breeder. This code scales from STARFIRE values where appropriate and calculates costs of other systems directly. The estimated cost of the RTFB is $3.01 B in 1984 dollars. The cost of electricity on the same basis as STARFIRE is 42.4 mills/kWhre vs 44.9 mills/kWhre for STARFIRE (this does not include the fuel value or fuel cycle costs for the RTFB). The breakeven cost of U 3 O 8 is $150/lb when compared to a PWR on the once through uranium fuel cycle with no inflation and escalation. On the same basis, the breakeven cost for superconducting tokamak and tandem mirror fusion breeders is $160/lb and $175/lb. Thus, the RTFB appears to be competitive in breakeven U 3 O 8 cost with superconducting magnet fusion breeders and offers the potential advantages of resistive magnet technology

Genetic basis for spontaneous hybrid genome doubling during allopolyploid speciation of common wheat shown by natural variation analyses of the paternal species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshihiro Matsuoka

Full Text Available The complex process of allopolyploid speciation includes various mechanisms ranging from species crosses and hybrid genome doubling to genome alterations and the establishment of new allopolyploids as persisting natural entities. Currently, little is known about the genetic mechanisms that underlie hybrid genome doubling, despite the fact that natural allopolyploid formation is highly dependent on this phenomenon. We examined the genetic basis for the spontaneous genome doubling of triploid F1 hybrids between the direct ancestors of allohexaploid common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., AABBDD genome, namely Triticumturgidum L. (AABB genome and Aegilopstauschii Coss. (DD genome. An Ae. tauschii intraspecific lineage that is closely related to the D genome of common wheat was identified by population-based analysis. Two representative accessions, one that produces a high-genome-doubling-frequency hybrid when crossed with a T. turgidum cultivar and the other that produces a low-genome-doubling-frequency hybrid with the same cultivar, were chosen from that lineage for further analyses. A series of investigations including fertility analysis, immunostaining, and quantitative trait locus (QTL analysis showed that (1 production of functional unreduced gametes through nonreductional meiosis is an early step key to successful hybrid genome doubling, (2 first division restitution is one of the cytological mechanisms that cause meiotic nonreduction during the production of functional male unreduced gametes, and (3 six QTLs in the Ae. tauschii genome, most of which likely regulate nonreductional meiosis and its subsequent gamete production processes, are involved in hybrid genome doubling. Interlineage comparisons of Ae. tauschii's ability to cause hybrid genome doubling suggested an evolutionary model for the natural variation pattern of the trait in which non-deleterious mutations in six QTLs may have important roles. The findings of this study demonstrated

Spontaneous pneumothorax in silicotuberculosis of lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolenic, J.; Jurgova, T.; Zimacek, J.; Vajo, J.; Krchnavy, M.

1995-01-01

The authors describe the case of 62 years old man with the appearance of spontaneous pneumothorax, in whom the basic pulmonary disease was silicotuberculosis of the lung. At clinic of occupational diseases in Kosice have been evidence 965 cases of silicosis and silicotuberculosis. From 1971 they have now the first case of spontaneous pneumothorax. The authors make discussion about possible mechanical and biochemical factors, which cause relatively low incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in silicosis of the lung. (authors)

Spontaneous body movements in spatial cognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergiu eTcaci Popescu

2012-05-01

Full Text Available People often perform spontaneous body movements during spatial tasks such as giving complex directions or orienting themselves on maps. How are these spontaneous gestures related to spatial problem-solving? We measured spontaneous movements during a perspective-taking task inspired by map reading. Analyzing the motion data to isolate rotation and translation components of motion in specific geometric relation to the task, we found out that most participants executed spontaneous miniature rotations of the head that were significantly related to the main task parameter. These head rotations were as if participants were trying to align themselves with the orientation on the map either in the image plane or on the ground plane, but with tiny amplitudes, typically below 1% of the actual movements. Our results are consistent with a model of sensorimotor prediction driving spatial reasoning. The efference copy of planned movements triggers this prediction mechanism. The movements themselves may then be mostly inhibited; the small spontaneous gestures that we measure are the visible traces of these planned but inhibited actions.

Spontaneous pneumothorax in diffuse cystic lung diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooley, Joseph; Lee, Yun Chor Gary; Gupta, Nishant

2017-07-01

Diffuse cystic lung diseases (DCLDs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders with varying pathophysiologic mechanisms that are characterized by the presence of air-filled lung cysts. These cysts are prone to rupture, leading to the development of recurrent spontaneous pneumothoraces. In this article, we review the epidemiology, clinical features, and management DCLD-associated spontaneous pneumothorax, with a focus on lymphangioleiomyomatosis, Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis. DCLDs are responsible for approximately 10% of apparent primary spontaneous pneumothoraces. Computed tomography screening for DCLDs (Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis) following the first spontaneous pneumothorax has recently been shown to be cost-effective and can help facilitate early diagnosis of the underlying disorders. Patients with DCLD-associated spontaneous pneumothorax have a very high rate of recurrence, and thus pleurodesis should be considered following the first episode of spontaneous pneumothorax in these patients, rather than waiting for a recurrent episode. Prior pleurodesis is not a contraindication to future lung transplant. Although DCLDs are uncommon, spontaneous pneumothorax is often the sentinel event that provides an opportunity for diagnosis. By understanding the burden and implications of pneumothoraces in DCLDs, clinicians can facilitate early diagnosis and appropriate management of the underlying disorders.

Natural cytotoxicity in immunodeficiency diseases: preservation of natural killer activity and the in vivo appearance of radioresistant killing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pierce, G.F.; Polmar, S.H.; Schacter, B.Z.; Brovall, C.; Hornick, D.L.; Sorensen, R.U.

1986-01-01

We studied spontaneous natural killer (NK) cell activity and radiation-resistant NK mediated cytotoxicity in four patients with clinically documented severe combined immune deficiency disease (SCID), and in one subject each with intestinal lymphangiectasia and cartilage-hair hypoplasia. We observed the preservation of spontaneous NK activity in all patients despite the presence of profound B- and T-lymphocytopenia and clinical immunodeficiency. NK activity was associated with relatively normal circulating numbers of OKM1+ lymphocytes, a population known to contain NK effectors. Spontaneous NK activity resistant to 3000 rad was increased in all patients, indicating the presence of activated natural killer cells in vivo. The concept of a chronically activated immune system in these patients was further supported by the presence of increased Ia positive T cells in all subjects tested, suggesting that radioresistant NK activity may be a useful parameter to measure when assessing in vivo immune activation. Our data, as well as that of others, supports the hypothesis that at least one population of NK cells is a distinct lineage arising at the differentiation level of myeloid and lymphoid stem cells in the bone marrow

Control of radioactive wastes and coupling of neutron/gamma measurements: use of radiative capture for the correction of matrix effects that penalize the fissile mass measurement by active neutron interrogation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loche, F.

2006-10-01

In the framework of radioactive waste drums control, difficulties arise in the nondestructive measurement of fissile mass ( 235 U, 239 Pu..) by Active Neutron Interrogation (ANI), when dealing with matrices containing materials (Cl, H...) influencing the neutron flux. The idea is to use the neutron capture reaction (n,γ) to determine the matrix composition to adjust the ANI calibration coefficient value. This study, dealing with 118 litres, homogeneous drums of density less than 0,4 and composed of chlorinated and/or hydrogenated materials, leads to build abacus linking the γ ray peak areas to the ANI calibration coefficient. Validation assays of these abacus show a very good agreement between the corrected and true fissile masses for hydrogenated matrices (max. relative standard deviation: 23 %) and quite good for chlorinated and hydrogenated matrices (58 %). The developed correction method improves the measured values. It may be extended to 0,45 density, heterogeneous drums. (author)

FEL gain optimisation and spontaneous radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bali, L.M.; Srivastava, A.; Pandya, T.P. [Lucknow Univ. (India)] [and others

1995-12-31

Colson have evaluated FEL gains for small deviations from perfect electron beam injection, with radiation of the same polarisation as that of the wiggler fields. We find that for optimum gain the polarisation of the optical field should be the same as that of the spontaneous emission under these conditions. With a helical wiggler the axial oscillations resulting from small departures from perfect electron beam injection lead to injection dependent unequal amplitudes and phases of the spontaneous radiation in the two transverse directions. Viewed along the axis therefore the spontaneous emission is elliptically polarised. The azimuth of the ellipse varies with the difference of phase of the two transverse components of spontaneous emission but the eccentricity remains the same. With planar wigglers the spontaneous emission viewed in the axial direction is linearly polarised, again with an injection dependent azimuth. For optimum coherent gain of a radiation field its polarisation characteristics must be the same as those of the spontaneous radiation with both types of wiggler. Thus, with a helical wiggler and the data reported earlier, an increase of 10% in the FEL gain at the fundamental frequency and of 11% at the fifth harmonic has been calculated in the small gain per pass limit. Larger enhancements in gain may result from more favourable values of input parameters.

The industrial development of atomic energy; Le developpement industriel de l'energie atomique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowarski, L [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Paris (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1955-07-01

Countries with large stock of fissile material and producing large quantity of nuclear pure {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu are able to allocate part of the stock to non military research. For countries with low stock of fissile material, all the stock is allocated to military research. An economical and technical solution has to be find to dedicate a part of fissile material to non military research and develop the atomic energy industry. It stated the industrial and economical problems and in particular the choice between the use of enriched fuel with high refining cost or depleted fuel with low production cost. It discusses of four possible utilizations of the natural resources: reactors functioning with pure fissile material ({sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu) or concentrated material ({sup 235}U mixed with small quantities of {sup 238}U after an incomplete isotopic separation), breeder reactors functioning with enriched material mixed with {sup 238}U or Thorium placed in an appropriate spatial distribution to allow neutrons beam to activate {sup 238}U or Thorium with the regeneration of fissile material in {sup 239}Pu, reactors using natural uranium or low enriched uranium can also produce Plutonium with less efficiency than breeder reactors and the last solution being the use of natural uranium with the only scope of energy production and no production of secondary fissile material. The first class using pure fissile material has a low energy efficiency and is used only by large fissile material stock countries to accumulate energy in small size fuel for nuclear engines researches for submarines and warships. The advantage of the second class of reactors, breeder reactors, is that they produce energy and plutonium. Two type of breeder reactor are considered: breeder reactor using pure fissile material and {sup 238}U or breeder reactor using the promising mixture of pure fissile material and Thorium. Different projects are in phase of development in United States, England

The industrial development of atomic energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowarski, L.

1955-01-01

Countries with large stock of fissile material and producing large quantity of nuclear pure 235 U and 239 Pu are able to allocate part of the stock to non military research. For countries with low stock of fissile material, all the stock is allocated to military research. An economical and technical solution has to be find to dedicate a part of fissile material to non military research and develop the atomic energy industry. It stated the industrial and economical problems and in particular the choice between the use of enriched fuel with high refining cost or depleted fuel with low production cost. It discusses of four possible utilizations of the natural resources: reactors functioning with pure fissile material ( 235 U or 239 Pu) or concentrated material ( 235 U mixed with small quantities of 238 U after an incomplete isotopic separation), breeder reactors functioning with enriched material mixed with 238 U or Thorium placed in an appropriate spatial distribution to allow neutrons beam to activate 238 U or Thorium with the regeneration of fissile material in 239 Pu, reactors using natural uranium or low enriched uranium can also produce Plutonium with less efficiency than breeder reactors and the last solution being the use of natural uranium with the only scope of energy production and no production of secondary fissile material. The first class using pure fissile material has a low energy efficiency and is used only by large fissile material stock countries to accumulate energy in small size fuel for nuclear engines researches for submarines and warships. The advantage of the second class of reactors, breeder reactors, is that they produce energy and plutonium. Two type of breeder reactor are considered: breeder reactor using pure fissile material and 238 U or breeder reactor using the promising mixture of pure fissile material and Thorium. Different projects are in phase of development in United States, England and Scotland. The third class of reactor using

Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis in Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalip Gupta

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Hypothyroidism is an uncommon cause of ascites. Here we describe a case of a 75 year-old female patient with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and subclinical hypothyroidism that resolved with thyroid replacement and antibiotic therapy respectively. Ascitic fluid analysis revealed a gram-positive bacterium on gram staining. A review of the literature revealed just one other reported case of myxoedema ascites with concomitant spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and no case has till been reported of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in subclinical hypothyroidism.

Spontaneous CP violation from a quaternionic Kaluza-Klein theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanlon, B.E.; Joshi, G.C.

1991-01-01

Motivated by the isomorphism between the universal covering group of the six dimensional Lorentz group and the special linear group over the quaternions, a locally quaternionic covariant quantum mechanics is postulated to exist in six space-time dimensions. Compactifying onto the space-time M 4 x S 2 complex theory is retrieved on the four dimensional Minkowski space with the essential quaternionic nature confined to S 2 . Quaternionic spinors are introduced and a dimensionally reduced theory recovered which exhibits a CP violating effect via spontaneous symmetry breaking. 20 refs

Spontaneous mutation rates and the rate-doubling dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Von Borstel, R.C.; Moustaccki, E.; Latarjet, R.

1978-01-01

The amount of radiation required to double the frequency of mutations or tumours over the rate of those that occur spontaneously is called the rate-doubling dose. An equivalent concept has been proposed for exposure to other environmental mutagens. The doubling dose concept is predicated on the assumption that all human populations have the same spontaneous mutation rate, and that this spontaneous mutation rate is known. It is now established for prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes that numerous genes control the spontaneous mutation rate, and it is likely that the same is true for human cells as well. Given that the accepted mode of evolution of human populatons is from small, isolated groups of individuals, it seems likely that each population would have a different spontaneous mutation rate. Given that a minimum of twenty genes control or affect the spontaneous mutation rate, and that each of these in turn is susceptible to spontaneously arising or environmentally induced mutations, it seems likely that every individual within a population (except for siblings from identical multiple births) will have a unique spontaneous mutation rate. If each individual in a population does have a different spontaneous mutation rate, the doubling dose concept, in rigorous terms, is fallacious. Therefore, as with other concepts of risk evaluation, the doubling dose concept is subject to criticism. Nevertheless, until we know individual spontaneous mutation rates with precision, and can evaluate risks based on this information, the doubling dose concept has a heuristic value and is needed for practical assessment of risks for defined populations. (author)

Contributions at the Tripoli Monte Carlo code qualifying on critical experiences and at neutronic interaction study of fissile units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nouri, A.

1994-01-01

Criticality studies in nuclear fuel cycle are based on Monte Carlo method. These codes use multigroup cross sections which can verify by experimental configurations or by use of reference codes such Tripoli 2. In this Tripoli 2 code nuclear data are errors attached and asked for experimental studies with critical experiences. This is one of the aim of this thesis. To calculate the keff of interacted fissile units we have used the multigroup Monte Carlo code Moret with convergence problems. A new estimator of reactions rates permit to better approximate the neutrons exchange between units and a new importance function has been tested. 2 annexes

Noncritical generation of nonclassical frequency combs via spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking

Science.gov (United States)

Navarrete-Benlloch, Carlos; Patera, Giuseppe; de Valcárcel, Germán J.

2017-10-01

Synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators (SPOPOs) are optical cavities driven by mode-locked lasers, and containing a nonlinear crystal capable of down-converting a frequency comb to lower frequencies. SPOPOs have received a lot of attention lately because their intrinsic multimode nature makes them compact sources of quantum correlated light with promising applications in modern quantum information technologies. In this work we show that SPOPOs are also capable of accessing the challenging and interesting regime where spontaneous symmetry breaking confers strong nonclassical properties to the emitted light, which has eluded experimental observation so far. Apart from opening the possibility of studying experimentally this elusive regime of dissipative phase transitions, our predictions will have a practical impact, since we show that spontaneous symmetry breaking provides a specific spatiotemporal mode with large quadrature squeezing for any value of the system parameters, turning SPOPOs into robust sources of highly nonclassical light above threshold.

Fuel cycle parameters for strategy studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archinoff, G.H.

1979-05-01

This report summarizes seven fuel cycle parameters (efficiency, specific power, burnup, equilibrium net fissile feed, equilibrium net fissile surplus, first charge fissile content, and whether or not fuel reprocessing is required) to be used in long-term strategy analyses of fuel cycles based on natural UO 2 , low enriched uranium, mixed oxides, plutonium topped thorium, uranium topped thorium, and the fast breeder oxide cycle. (LL)

Visually Evoked Spiking Evolves While Spontaneous Ongoing Dynamics Persist

Science.gov (United States)

Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor K.; Darokhan, Ziauddin; Valentiniene, Sonata; Roland, Per E.

2016-01-01

Neurons in the primary visual cortex spontaneously spike even when there are no visual stimuli. It is unknown whether the spiking evoked by visual stimuli is just a modification of the spontaneous ongoing cortical spiking dynamics or whether the spontaneous spiking state disappears and is replaced by evoked spiking. This study of laminar recordings of spontaneous spiking and visually evoked spiking of neurons in the ferret primary visual cortex shows that the spiking dynamics does not change: the spontaneous spiking as well as evoked spiking is controlled by a stable and persisting fixed point attractor. Its existence guarantees that evoked spiking return to the spontaneous state. However, the spontaneous ongoing spiking state and the visual evoked spiking states are qualitatively different and are separated by a threshold (separatrix). The functional advantage of this organization is that it avoids the need for a system reorganization following visual stimulation, and impedes the transition of spontaneous spiking to evoked spiking and the propagation of spontaneous spiking from layer 4 to layers 2–3. PMID:26778982

Peritonitis - spontaneous bacterial

Science.gov (United States)

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP); Ascites - peritonitis; Cirrhosis - peritonitis ... who are on peritoneal dialysis for kidney failure. Peritonitis may have other causes . These include infection from ...

Dorsomedial prefontal cortex supports spontaneous thinking per se.

Science.gov (United States)

Raij, T T; Riekki, T J J

2017-06-01

Spontaneous thinking, an action to produce, consider, integrate, and reason through mental representations, is central to our daily experience and has been suggested to serve crucial adaptive purposes. Such thinking occurs among other experiences during mind wandering that is associated with activation of the default mode network among other brain circuitries. Whether and how such brain activation is linked to the experience of spontaneous thinking per se remains poorly known. We studied 51 healthy subjects using a comprehensive experience-sampling paradigm during 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging. In comparison with fixation, the experiences of spontaneous thinking and spontaneous perception were related to activation of wide-spread brain circuitries, including the cortical midline structures, the anterior cingulate cortex and the visual cortex. In direct comparison of the spontaneous thinking versus spontaneous perception, activation was observed in the anterior dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Modality congruence of spontaneous-experience-related brain activation was suggested by several findings, including association of the lingual gyrus with visual in comparison with non-verbal-non-visual thinking. In the context of current literature, these findings suggest that the cortical midline structures are involved in the integrative core substrate of spontaneous thinking that is coupled with other brain systems depending on the characteristics of thinking. Furthermore, involvement of the anterior dorsomedial prefrontal cortex suggests the control of high-order abstract functions to characterize spontaneous thinking per se. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3277-3288, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Silencing of Anticoagulant Protein C Evokes Low-Incident but Spontaneous Atherothrombosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice-Brief Report

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ouweneel, Amber B.; Heestermans, Marco; Verwilligen, Robin A. F.; Gijbels, Marion J. J.; Reitsma, Pieter H.; van Eck, Miranda; van Vlijmen, Bart J. M.

2017-01-01

Murine atherosclerosis models do not spontaneously develop atherothrombotic complications. We investigated whether disruption of natural anticoagulation allows preexisting atherosclerotic plaques to progress toward an atherothrombotic phenotype. On lowering of plasma protein C levels with small

Maternal smoking predicts the risk of spontaneous abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ann; Hannibal, Charlotte Gerd; Lindekilde, Bodil Eriksen

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined smoking prior to pregnancy and the occurrence of spontaneous abortion, as most studies have addressed the risk of spontaneous abortion in relation to smoking during pregnancy. However, results are not entirely consistent. The aim of the present study...... was to assess the risk of spontaneous abortion considering smoking prior to pregnancy. METHODS: We performed a nested case-control study using prospective data from a population-based cohort comprising 11,088 women aged 20-29 years. From this cohort, women who experienced either a spontaneous abortion (n=343......) or who gave birth (n=1,578) during follow-up were selected. Associations between self-reported smoking at enrollment and subsequent spontaneous abortion were analyzed by means of multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: The risk of spontaneous abortion in relation to pre-pregnancy smoking showed a clear...

A Study Regarding the Representation of the Sun in Young Children’s Spontaneous Drawings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Domingo Villarroel

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Drawing has historically been the preeminent way of portraying the observations of the sun. The study of the early stages of the development of astronomical thought and the examination of human graphic expression indicate this. With that in mind, it is interesting to note that young children very frequently draw the sun in their spontaneous depictions and, also, that there are preliminary indications that this fact might be related to their conceptual development. This study examines 279 pictures that children aged 4 to 8 spontaneously depicted, paying particular attention to their solar representations and the relationship that they have with other pictorial elements. The data is also related to children’s understanding of the inanimate nature of the sun. The results lend weight to the assumption that children do not draw the sun without intent and allow for adding fresh data to the growing body of research showing the importance of considering young children’s graphical expression when it comes to gaining insight into their understanding regarding natural phenomena.

Spontaneous resolution of colloid cyst of the third ventricle: Implications for management

Science.gov (United States)

Turel, Mazda Keki; Kucharczyk, Walter; Gentili, Fred

2017-01-01

While there is little controversy regarding the treatment of symptomatic colloid cysts, the optimal management of “incidentally” detected and asymptomatic colloid cyst remains unclear. The age of the patient, duration and significance of symptoms related to the cyst, size and radiological characteristics of the cyst and the presence of hydrocephalus are all factors to be considered before considering surgery. While surgery most often provides good results in the majority of patients, complications do occur. Despite growing literature about the natural history of this condition, to date, only three cases of spontaneous resolution of colloid cyst <10 mm have been reported. We report the case of spontaneous resolution of a colloid cyst larger than 10 mm, initially managed with close observation and serial neuroimaging. This case highlights the possible role for a conservative approach even in larger-sized cysts. PMID:28484531

Osteonecrosis or spontaneous fractures following renal transplantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andresen, J.; Nielsen, H.E.; Aarhus Univ.

1981-01-01

31 renal transplant recipients with posttransplant development of osteonecrosis or spontaneous fractures were evaluated with regard to age, duration of dialysis before transplantation. Determination of metacarpal bone mass at the time of transplantation and registration of bone resorption and soft tissue calcification at the time of transplantation and at the time of onset of osteonecrosis and spontaneous fractures were made. Apart from the increased mean age in patients with spontaneous fractures no difference was seen between the groups. Osteonecrosis and spontaneous fractures occurred in areas of trabecular bone. It seems most likely that after renal transplantation the patients show bone complications of different localization. (orig.) [de

Glass material oxidation and dissolution system: Converting miscellaneous fissile materials to glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsberg, C.W.; Ferrada, J.J.

1996-01-01

The cold war and the development of nuclear energy have resulted in significant inventories of miscellaneous fissile materials (MFMs). MFMs include (1) plutonium scrap and residue, (2) miscellaneous spent nuclear fuel (SNF), (3) certain hot cell wastes, and (4) many one-of-a-kind materials. Major concerns associated with the long-term management of these materials include: safeguards and nonproliferation issues; health, environment, and safety concerns. waste management requirements; and high storage costs. These issues can be addressed by converting the MFMs to glass for secure, long-term storage or repository disposal; however, conventional glass-making processes require oxide-like feed materials. Converting MFMs to oxide-like materials with subsequent vitrification is a complex and expensive process. A new vitrification process has been invented, the Glass Material Oxidation and Dissolution System (GMODS), which directly converts metals, ceramics, and amorphous solids to glass; oxidizes organics with the residue converted to glass; and converts chlorides to borosilicate glass and a secondary sodium chloride (NaCl) stream. Laboratory work has demonstrated the conversion of cerium (a plutonium surrogate), uranium, Zircaloy, stainless steel, multiple oxides, and other materials to glass. However, significant work is required to develop GMODS further for applications at an industrial scale. If implemented, GMODS will provide a new approach to manage these materials

A Case of Spontaneously Resolved Bilateral Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan Kahraman

2014-03-01

Full Text Available A condition of intrapleural air-space accumulation in individuals without any history of trauma or lung disease is called as primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP. Sixteen-years-old male patient admitted with complains of chest pain and dyspnea beginning 3 day ago. On physical examination, severity of breath sounds decreased on right side. Chest radiograph was taken and right-sided pneumothorax was detected and tube thoracostomy was inserted. Two months ago the patient referred to a doctor with similar complaints and physical examination and chest radiograph were reported as normal. The radiograph was retrospectively examined and bilateral PSP was detected. We presented the case duo to spontaneous recovery of bilateral PSP is seen very rarely and so contributes data to the literature. In patients admitted to the clinic with chest pain and shortness of breath, pneumothorax should be considered at differential diagnosis.

Maternal underweight and the risk of spontaneous abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helgstrand, Stine; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2005-01-01

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the risk of spontaneous abortion in relation to maternal pre-pregnant underweight. METHODS: The study was designed as a cohort study within the framework of the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). The participants were a total of 23 821 women recruited consecutively...... spontaneous abortion. Relative risk of spontaneous abortion was calculated as Hazard Ratios using Cox regression with delayed entry. RESULTS: The outcome measure was spontaneous abortion. The hazard ratio for spontaneous abortion in women with a pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 was 1.24 (95......% confidence limits 0.95-1.63) compared to women with pre-pregnant BMI 18.5-24.9. Women with a BMI of 25 or more had a smaller increase in risk of spontaneous abortion. Adjustment for maternal age, parity, previous miscarriages, and lifestyle factors did not affect the estimates substantially, neither did...

Recurrently connected and localized neuronal communities initiate coordinated spontaneous activity in neuronal networks

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Hayder; Maccione, Alessandro; Nieus, Thierry

2017-01-01

Developing neuronal systems intrinsically generate coordinated spontaneous activity that propagates by involving a large number of synchronously firing neurons. In vivo, waves of spikes transiently characterize the activity of developing brain circuits and are fundamental for activity-dependent circuit formation. In vitro, coordinated spontaneous spiking activity, or network bursts (NBs), interleaved within periods of asynchronous spikes emerge during the development of 2D and 3D neuronal cultures. Several studies have investigated this type of activity and its dynamics, but how a neuronal system generates these coordinated events remains unclear. Here, we investigate at a cellular level the generation of network bursts in spontaneously active neuronal cultures by exploiting high-resolution multielectrode array recordings and computational network modelling. Our analysis reveals that NBs are generated in specialized regions of the network (functional neuronal communities) that feature neuronal links with high cross-correlation peak values, sub-millisecond lags and that share very similar structural connectivity motifs providing recurrent interactions. We show that the particular properties of these local structures enable locally amplifying spontaneous asynchronous spikes and that this mechanism can lead to the initiation of NBs. Through the analysis of simulated and experimental data, we also show that AMPA currents drive the coordinated activity, while NMDA and GABA currents are only involved in shaping the dynamics of NBs. Overall, our results suggest that the presence of functional neuronal communities with recurrent local connections allows a neuronal system to generate spontaneous coordinated spiking activity events. As suggested by the rules used for implementing our computational model, such functional communities might naturally emerge during network development by following simple constraints on distance-based connectivity. PMID:28749937

Recurrently connected and localized neuronal communities initiate coordinated spontaneous activity in neuronal networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Lonardoni

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Developing neuronal systems intrinsically generate coordinated spontaneous activity that propagates by involving a large number of synchronously firing neurons. In vivo, waves of spikes transiently characterize the activity of developing brain circuits and are fundamental for activity-dependent circuit formation. In vitro, coordinated spontaneous spiking activity, or network bursts (NBs, interleaved within periods of asynchronous spikes emerge during the development of 2D and 3D neuronal cultures. Several studies have investigated this type of activity and its dynamics, but how a neuronal system generates these coordinated events remains unclear. Here, we investigate at a cellular level the generation of network bursts in spontaneously active neuronal cultures by exploiting high-resolution multielectrode array recordings and computational network modelling. Our analysis reveals that NBs are generated in specialized regions of the network (functional neuronal communities that feature neuronal links with high cross-correlation peak values, sub-millisecond lags and that share very similar structural connectivity motifs providing recurrent interactions. We show that the particular properties of these local structures enable locally amplifying spontaneous asynchronous spikes and that this mechanism can lead to the initiation of NBs. Through the analysis of simulated and experimental data, we also show that AMPA currents drive the coordinated activity, while NMDA and GABA currents are only involved in shaping the dynamics of NBs. Overall, our results suggest that the presence of functional neuronal communities with recurrent local connections allows a neuronal system to generate spontaneous coordinated spiking activity events. As suggested by the rules used for implementing our computational model, such functional communities might naturally emerge during network development by following simple constraints on distance-based connectivity.

Spontaneous deregulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Edelman, Benjamin; Geradin, Damien

Platform businesses such as Airbnb and Uber have risen to success partly by sidestepping laws and regulations that encumber their traditional competitors. Such rule flouting is what the authors call “spontaneous private deregulation,” and it’s happening in a growing number of industries. The authors

A case of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamane, Kanji; Yoshimoto, Hisanori; Harada, Kiyoshi; Uozumi, Tohru; Kuwabara, Satoshi.

1983-01-01

The authors experienced a case of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy diagnosed by CT scan with metrizamide and Conray. Patient was 23-year-old male who had been in good health until one month before admission, when he began to have headache and tinnitus. He noticed bilateral visual acuity was decreased about one week before admission and vomiting appeared two days before admission. He was admitted to our hospital because of bilateral papilledema and remarkable hydrocephalus diagnosed by CT scan. On admission, no abnormal neurological signs except for bilateral papilledema were noted. Immediately, right ventricular drainage was performed. Pressure of the ventricle was over 300mmH 2 O and CSF was clear. PVG and PEG disclosed an another cavity behind the third ventricle, which was communicated with the third ventricle, and occlusion of aqueduct of Sylvius. Metrizamide CT scan and Conray CT scan showed a communication between this cavity and quadrigeminal and supracerebellar cisterns. On these neuroradiological findings, the diagnosis of obstructive hydrocephalus due to benign aqueduct stenosis accompanied with spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy was obtained. Spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy was noticed to produce arrest of hydrocephalus, but with our case, spontaneous regression of such symptoms did not appeared. By surgical ventriculocisternostomy (method by Torkildsen, Dandy, or Scarff), arrest of hydrocephalus was seen in about 50 to 70 per cent, which was the same results as those of spontaneous ventriculocisternostomy. It is concluded that VP shunt or VA shunt is thought to be better treatment of obstructive hydrocephalus than the various kinds of surgical ventriculocisternostomy. (J.P.N.)

Los Alamos waste drum shufflers users manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rinard, P.M.; Adams, E.L.; Painter, J.

1993-01-01

This user manual describes the Los Alamos waste drum shufflers. The primary purpose of the instruments is to assay the mass of 235 U (or other fissile materials) in drums of assorted waste. It can perform passive assays for isotopes that spontaneously emit neutrons or active assays using the shuffler technique as described on this manual

Disintegration constant of uranium-238 by spontaneous fission redetermined by glass track method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima Medeiros, E. de.

1978-01-01

The disintegration constant of U 238 by spontaneous fission using glass as fission fragment detector was redetermined. A film of natural uranium (UO 3 ) prepared by chemical methods on the glass lamina was used in a long time experience of exposure (about 16 years). The good conditions of sample preparation and storage allow to observe, after chemical etching, fission fragment tracks. (M.C.K.) [pt

BNU-LSVED: a multimodal spontaneous expression database in educational environment

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Bo; Wei, Qinglan; He, Jun; Yu, Lejun; Zhu, Xiaoming

2016-09-01

In the field of pedagogy or educational psychology, emotions are treated as very important factors, which are closely associated with cognitive processes. Hence, it is meaningful for teachers to analyze students' emotions in classrooms, thus adjusting their teaching activities and improving students ' individual development. To provide a benchmark for different expression recognition algorithms, a large collection of training and test data in classroom environment has become an acute problem that needs to be resolved. In this paper, we present a multimodal spontaneous database in real learning environment. To collect the data, students watched seven kinds of teaching videos and were simultaneously filmed by a camera. Trained coders made one of the five learning expression labels for each image sequence extracted from the captured videos. This subset consists of 554 multimodal spontaneous expression image sequences (22,160 frames) recorded in real classrooms. There are four main advantages in this database. 1) Due to recorded in the real classroom environment, viewer's distance from the camera and the lighting of the database varies considerably between image sequences. 2) All the data presented are natural spontaneous responses to teaching videos. 3) The multimodal database also contains nonverbal behavior including eye movement, head posture and gestures to infer a student ' s affective state during the courses. 4) In the video sequences, there are different kinds of temporal activation patterns. In addition, we have demonstrated the labels for the image sequences are in high reliability through Cronbach's alpha method.

Difficulties for a simple picture of spontaneous CP violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKay, D.; Koerner, J.G.

1981-06-01

We show that vertical stroke epsilon'/epsilon vertical stroke is unacceptably large in SU(2)sub(L) x U(1) models with spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation in neutral Higgs-particle interactions if it is assumed that charmed quark intermediate states contribute significantly and that Msub(W) 2 >> Msub(H) 2 >> Msub(C) 2 . From the quark operator structure of box and penguin graphs involving Higgs-particle exchange, we demonstrate that pseudoscalar current matrix elements cannot be enhanced over axial-current matrix elements as has been previously assumed in similar calculations. Alternate ways to evaluate the matrix elements are employed. (orig.)

Molecular Darwinism: the contingency of spontaneous genetic variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Arber, Werner

2011-01-01

The availability of spontaneously occurring genetic variants is an important driving force of biological evolution. Largely thanks to experimental investigations by microbial geneticists, we know today that several different molecular mechanisms contribute to the overall genetic variations. These mechanisms can be assigned to three natural strategies to generate genetic variants: 1) local sequence changes, 2) intragenomic reshuffling of DNA segments, and 3) acquisition of a segment of foreign DNA. In these processes, specific gene products are involved in cooperation with different nongenetic elements. Some genetic variations occur fully at random along the DNA filaments, others rather with a statistical reproducibility, although at many possible sites. We have to be aware that evolution in natural ecosystems is of higher complexity than under most laboratory conditions, not at least in view of symbiotic associations and the occurrence of horizontal gene transfer. The encountered contingency of genetic variation can possibly best ensure a long-term persistence of life under steadily changing living conditions.

Quantifying emissions from spontaneous combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-09-01

Spontaneous combustion can be a significant problem in the coal industry, not only due to the obvious safety hazard and the potential loss of valuable assets, but also with respect to the release of gaseous pollutants, especially CO2, from uncontrolled coal fires. This report reviews methodologies for measuring emissions from spontaneous combustion and discusses methods for quantifying, estimating and accounting for the purpose of preparing emission inventories.

Age-related changes of the dental aesthetic zone at rest and during spontaneous smiling and speech.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geld, P.A.A.M. van der; Oosterveld, P.; Kuijpers-Jagtman, A.M.

2008-01-01

The aims of this study were to analyse lip line heights and age effects in an adult male population during spontaneous smiling, speech, and tooth display in the natural rest position and to determine whether lip line height follows a consistent pattern during these different functions. The sample

Speaker-sensitive emotion recognition via ranking: Studies on acted and spontaneous speech☆

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Houwei; Verma, Ragini; Nenkova, Ani

2015-01-01

We introduce a ranking approach for emotion recognition which naturally incorporates information about the general expressivity of speakers. We demonstrate that our approach leads to substantial gains in accuracy compared to conventional approaches. We train ranking SVMs for individual emotions, treating the data from each speaker as a separate query, and combine the predictions from all rankers to perform multi-class prediction. The ranking method provides two natural benefits. It captures speaker specific information even in speaker-independent training/testing conditions. It also incorporates the intuition that each utterance can express a mix of possible emotion and that considering the degree to which each emotion is expressed can be productively exploited to identify the dominant emotion. We compare the performance of the rankers and their combination to standard SVM classification approaches on two publicly available datasets of acted emotional speech, Berlin and LDC, as well as on spontaneous emotional data from the FAU Aibo dataset. On acted data, ranking approaches exhibit significantly better performance compared to SVM classification both in distinguishing a specific emotion from all others and in multi-class prediction. On the spontaneous data, which contains mostly neutral utterances with a relatively small portion of less intense emotional utterances, ranking-based classifiers again achieve much higher precision in identifying emotional utterances than conventional SVM classifiers. In addition, we discuss the complementarity of conventional SVM and ranking-based classifiers. On all three datasets we find dramatically higher accuracy for the test items on whose prediction the two methods agree compared to the accuracy of individual methods. Furthermore on the spontaneous data the ranking and standard classification are complementary and we obtain marked improvement when we combine the two classifiers by late-stage fusion.

Observation of Spontaneous Coherence in Bose-Einstein Condensate of Magnons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demidov, V. E.; Dzyapko, O.; Demokritov, S. O.; Melkov, G. A.; Slavin, A. N.

2008-01-01

The room-temperature dynamics of a magnon gas driven by short microwave pumping pulses is studied. An overpopulation of the lowest energy level of the system following the pumping is observed. Using the sensitivity of the Brillouin light scattering technique to the coherence degree of the scattering magnons we demonstrate the spontaneous emergence of coherence of the magnons at the lowest level, if their density exceeds a critical value. This finding is clear proof of the quantum nature of the observed phenomenon and direct evidence of Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons at room temperature

Spontaneous calf haematoma: case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Zubaidah, N H; Liew, N C

2014-02-01

Spontaneous calf haematoma is a rare condition and few case reports have been published in the English literature. Common conditions like deep vein thrombosis and traumatic gastrocnemius muscle tear need to be considered when a patient presents with unilateral calf swelling and tenderness. Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging are essential for confirmation of diagnosis. The purpose of this paper is to report on a rare case of spontaneous calf hematoma and its diagnosis and management.

F. VON HAYEK’S THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS ORDER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. Nesterenko

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The essence and the genesis of spontaneous order are disclosed in the context of critical analysis of constructivism. The author’s approach to the definition of the characteristic features of the spontaneous order is proposed. The dichotomy of the order is revealed towards the economic sphere in form of spontaneous order and organization.

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum after bench press training.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishino, Tomoya

2017-04-01

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is often associated with asthma and mainly affects adolescent males with a tall, thin body habitus. A 17-year-old man complained of chest and pharyngeal pain after bench press training and spontaneous pneumomediastinum was diagnosed. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chest pain of uncertain cause.

Spontaneous cooperation for prosocials, but not for proselfs: Social value orientation moderates spontaneous cooperation behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Mischkowski, Dorothee; Glöckner, Andreas

2016-01-01

Cooperation is essential for the success of societies and there is an ongoing debate whether individuals have therefore developed a general spontaneous tendency to cooperate or not. Findings that cooperative behavior is related to shorter decision times provide support for the spontaneous cooperation effect, although contrary results have also been reported. We show that cooperative behavior is better described as person × situation interaction, in that there is a spontaneous cooperation effect for prosocial but not for proself persons. In three studies, one involving population representative samples from the US and Germany, we found that cooperation in a public good game is dependent on an interaction between individuals’ social value orientation and decision time. Increasing deliberation about the dilemma situation does not affect persons that are selfish to begin with, but it is related to decreasing cooperation for prosocial persons that gain positive utility from outcomes of others and score high on the related general personality trait honesty/humility. Our results demonstrate that the spontaneous cooperation hypothesis has to be qualified in that it is limited to persons with a specific personality and social values. Furthermore, they allow reconciling conflicting previous findings by identifying an important moderator for the effect. PMID:26876773

Potential of Lactobacillus reuteri from Spontaneous Sourdough as a Starter Additive for Improving Quality Parameters of Bread

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lina Vaičiulytė-Funk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Retardation of microbial spoilage of bread can be achieved by the use of spontaneous sourdough with an antimicrobial activity. This study was undertaken to identify lactic acid bacteria naturally occurring in spontaneous sourdough and use them for quality improvement and prolonging shelf life of rye, wheat and rye with wheat bread. Identification of isolates from spontaneous sourdough by pyrosequencing assay showed that Lactobacillus reuteri were dominant lactic acid bacteria. The isolates showed a wide range of antimicrobial activity and displayed a synergistic activity against other lactobacilli, some lactococci and foodborne yeasts. The best application of spontaneous sourdough was noticed in the rye bread with the lowest crumb fi rmness of the fi nal product, although the sensory results of wheat and rye with wheat bread did not statistically diff er from control bread. L. reuteri showed a high preserving capacity against fungi during storage. This may be due to bacteriocins and various fatty acids secreted into the growth medium that were identified by agar well diffusion assay and gas chromatography. L. reuteri showing high antimicrobial activity have the potential to be used as a starter additive that could improve safety and/or shelf life of bread.

Spontaneous Loss of Virulence in Natural Populations of Listeria monocytogenes.

Science.gov (United States)

Maury, Mylène M; Chenal-Francisque, Viviane; Bracq-Dieye, Hélène; Han, Lei; Leclercq, Alexandre; Vales, Guillaume; Moura, Alexandra; Gouin, Edith; Scortti, Mariela; Disson, Olivier; Vázquez-Boland, José A; Lecuit, Marc

2017-11-01

The pathogenesis of Listeria monocytogenes depends on the ability of this bacterium to escape from the phagosome of the host cells via the action of the pore-forming toxin listeriolysin O (LLO). Expression of the LLO-encoding gene ( hly ) requires the transcriptional activator PrfA, and both hly and prfA genes are essential for L. monocytogenes virulence. Here, we used the hemolytic activity of LLO as a phenotypic marker to screen for spontaneous virulence-attenuating mutations in L. monocytogenes Sixty nonhemolytic isolates were identified among a collection of 57,820 confirmed L. monocytogenes strains isolated from a variety of sources (0.1%). In most cases (56/60; 93.3%), the nonhemolytic phenotype resulted from nonsense, missense, or frameshift mutations in prfA Five strains carried hly mutations leading to a single amino acid substitution (G299V) or a premature stop codon causing strong virulence attenuation in mice. In one strain, both hly and gshF (encoding a glutathione synthase required for full PrfA activity) were missing due to genomic rearrangements likely caused by a transposable element. The PrfA/LLO loss-of-function (PrfA - /LLO - ) mutants belonged to phylogenetically diverse clades of L. monocytogenes , and most were identified among nonclinical strains (57/60). Consistent with the rare occurrence of loss-of-virulence mutations, we show that prfA and hly are under purifying selection. Although occurring at a low frequency, PrfA - /LLO - mutational events in L. monocytogenes lead to niche restriction and open an evolutionary path for obligate saprophytism in this facultative intracellular pathogen. Copyright © 2017 Maury et al.

Spontaneous ischaemic stroke in dogs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gredal, Hanne Birgit; Skerritt, G. C.; Gideon, P.

2013-01-01

Translation of experimental stroke research into the clinical setting is often unsuccessful. Novel approaches are therefore desirable. As humans, pet dogs suffer from spontaneous ischaemic stroke and may hence offer new ways of studying genuine stroke injury mechanisms.......Translation of experimental stroke research into the clinical setting is often unsuccessful. Novel approaches are therefore desirable. As humans, pet dogs suffer from spontaneous ischaemic stroke and may hence offer new ways of studying genuine stroke injury mechanisms....

Spontaneity and international marketing performance

OpenAIRE

Souchon, Anne L.; Hughes, Paul; Farrell, Andrew M.; Nemkova, Ekaterina; Oliveira, Joao S.

2016-01-01

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how today’s international marketers can perform better on the global scene by harnessing spontaneity. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw on contingency theory to develop a model of the spontaneity – international marketing performance relationship, and identify three potential m...

Analysis of the Spontaneous Abortion in Chinese Married Women

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

高尔生; 邓新清; 何更生; 方可娟; 唐威; 楼超华

1994-01-01

The spontaneous abortion is a common type of pregnant outcomes. The spontaneous abortion rate can be used to indicate the women's fecundity and the level of the reproductive health. It is also a sensitive indicator for determing the social, economic, and health status and prenatal care. To explore the preventive method for spontaneous abortion and improve women's health level, it is important to evaluate the status of spontaneous abortion and to determine the factors affecting

MR demonstration of spontaneous acute epidural hematoma of the thoracic spine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avrahami, E.; Tadmor, R.; Feibel, M.; Itzhak, Y.; Tel Aviv Univ.; Ram, Z.; Tel Aviv Univ.

1989-01-01

Two patients with spontaneous epidural hematoma of the thoracic spine are presented. The magnetic resonance (MR) examination performed within the first hours following the onset of symptoms demonstrated an epidural elongated lesion impinging on the spinal cord, compatible with hematoma. In one of the patients this finding was surgically confirmed. The second patient improved under steroid treatment. The MR findings were highly suggestive of the pathological nature of the lesion. The MR examination should replace other diagnostic procedures, such as computerised tomography (CT) and myelography. (orig.)

Neutron Multiplicity Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frame, Katherine Chiyoko [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-06-28

Neutron multiplicity measurements are widely used for nondestructive assay (NDA) of special nuclear material (SNM). When combined with isotopic composition information, neutron multiplicity analysis can be used to estimate the spontaneous fission rate and leakage multiplication of SNM. When combined with isotopic information, the total mass of fissile material can also be determined. This presentation provides an overview of this technique.

Spontaneous Vesicle Recycling in the Synaptic Bouton

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sven eTruckenbrodt

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The trigger for synaptic vesicle exocytosis is Ca2+, which enters the synaptic bouton following action potential stimulation. However, spontaneous release of neurotransmitter also occurs in the absence of stimulation in virtually all synaptic boutons. It has long been thought that this represents exocytosis driven by fluctuations in local Ca2+ levels. The vesicles responding to these fluctuations are thought to be the same ones that release upon stimulation, albeit potentially triggered by different Ca2+ sensors. This view has been challenged by several recent works, which have suggested that spontaneous release is driven by a separate pool of synaptic vesicles. Numerous articles appeared during the last few years in support of each of these hypotheses, and it has been challenging to bring them into accord. We speculate here on the origins of this controversy, and propose a solution that is related to developmental effects. Constitutive membrane traffic, needed for the biogenesis of vesicles and synapses, is responsible for high levels of spontaneous membrane fusion in young neurons, probably independent of Ca2+. The vesicles releasing spontaneously in such neurons are not related to other synaptic vesicle pools and may represent constitutively releasing vesicles (CRVs rather than bona fide synaptic vesicles. In mature neurons, constitutive traffic is much dampened, and the few remaining spontaneous release events probably represent bona fide spontaneously releasing synaptic vesicles (SRSVs responding to Ca2+ fluctuations, along with a handful of CRVs that participate in synaptic vesicle turnover.

Spontaneous Atraumatic Mediastinal Hemorrhage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morkos Iskander BSc, BMBS, MRCS, PGCertMedEd

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous atraumatic mediastinal hematomas are rare. We present a case of a previously fit and well middle-aged lady who presented with acute breathlessness and an increasing neck swelling and spontaneous neck bruising. On plain chest radiograph, widening of the mediastinum was noted. The bruising was later confirmed to be secondary to mediastinal hematoma. This life-threatening diagnostic conundrum was managed conservatively with a multidisciplinary team approach involving upper gastrointestinal and thoracic surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, intensivists, and hematologists along with a variety of diagnostic modalities. A review of literature is also presented to help surgeons manage such challenging and complicated cases.

Spontaneous Retropharyngeal Emphysema: A Case Report | Chi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... is a rare clinical condition in pediatric otolaryngology. The predominant symptoms are sore throat, odynophagia, dysphagia, and neck pain. Here, we report a case of spontaneous retropharyngeal emphysema. Keywords: Iatrogenic injury, retropharyngeal emphysema, spontaneous retropharyngeal emphysem, trauma ...

Video-assisted thoracoscopy treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Haitao; Ren Jian; Che Jiaming; Hang Junbiao; Qiu Weicheng; Chen Zhongyuan

2002-01-01

Objective: To propose a treatment protocol by video thoracoscopy in spontaneous pneumothorax. Methods: One hundred and three patients underwent Video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax and hemothorax. Indications included recurrent pneumothorax, persistent air leakage following conservative therapy, complicated hemothorax and CT scan identified bullae formation. Results: No operative deaths occurred, conversion rate was 2.91%, recurrence rate was 0.97%, complication rate was 3.81% and mean postoperative hospital stay was 5.6 days. Conclusions: VATS treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax is better than open chest surgery and also superior than conservative therapy

Endometriosis-related spontaneous diaphragmatic rupture.

Science.gov (United States)

Triponez, Frédéric; Alifano, Marco; Bobbio, Antonio; Regnard, Jean-François

2010-10-01

Non-traumatic, spontaneous diaphragmatic rupture is a rare event whose pathophysiology is not known. We report the case of endometriosis-related spontaneous rupture of the right diaphragm with intrathoracic herniation of the liver, gallbladder and colon. We hypothesize that the invasiveness of endometriotic tissue caused diaphragm fragility, which finally lead to its complete rupture without traumatic event. The treatment consisted of a classical management of diaphragmatic rupture, with excision of the endometriotic nodule followed by medical ovarian suppression for six months.

Natural course of LGI1 encephalitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szots, Monika; Marton, Annamaria; Kover, Ferenc

2014-01-01

. Follow-up brain MRI indicated early hippocampal sclerosis and global brain atrophy in one case characterized by more pronounced cognitive deficit. Memory and verbal fluency were affected most during the natural course of LGI1 encephalitis. LGI1 encephalitis had a monophasic course and spontaneously...... improved, suggesting that a relatively benign natural course may contribute to the favorable outcome observed after immunotherapy. Our data also indicate that LGI1 antibodies can be present in the sera without clinical disease activity....

Effect of low dose gamma radiation on stamen-hairs of different clones of Tradescantia presenting variability in the frequency of spontaneous mutations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, C.S.

1976-01-01

Changes in the frequency of spontaneous somatic mutations were studied for three different clones of Tradescantia heterozygotes for flower and stamen-hair color keeping them under controlled or natural conditions in order to verify the effect of different environmental conditions on the different genotypes. The effect of inflorescence age on the variation of spontaneous mutations was studied choosing young and old inflorescences of a same plant. Low dose irradiation experiments were carried out with those clones to elucidate the radiation effects on the clones presenting changes in the frequency of spontaneous mutations. The chronic-and acute irradiation effects of low dose irradiation of the stamen-hair of Tradescantia were also studied. Results are discussed. (M.A.) [pt

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, G; Cutler, A

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners' experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ considerably, however, which suggests that laboratory results may not generalise to the recognition of spontaneous speech. In the present study listeners were presented with both spontaneous and read speech materials, and their response time to detect word-initial target phonemes was measured. Responses were, overall, equally fast in each speech mode. However, analysis of effects previously reported in phoneme detection studies revealed significant differences between speech modes. In read speech but not in spontaneous speech, later targets were detected more rapidly than targets preceded by short words. In contrast, in spontaneous speech but not in read speech, targets were detected more rapidly in accented than in unaccented words and in strong than in weak syllables. An explanation for this pattern is offered in terms of characteristic prosodic differences between spontaneous and read speech. The results support claims from previous work that listeners pay great attention to prosodic information in the process of recognising speech.

Spontaneous CP violation on the lattice

CERN Document Server

Laine, Mikko

2000-01-01

At finite temperatures around the electroweak phase transition, the thermodynamics of the MSSM can be described by a three-dimensional two Higgs doublet effective theory. This effective theory has a phase where CP is spontaneously violated. We study spontaneous CP violation with non-perturbative lattice simulations, and analyse whether one could end up in this phase for any physical MSSM parameter values.

Spontaneous pneumothorax associated with lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, Dong Wook; Jung, Seung Hyae; Yoon, Yup; Lim, Jae Hoon; Cho, Kyu Soek; Yang, Moon Ho

1991-01-01

Spontaneous pneumothorax is a rare manifestation of lung cancer. Eight cases of pneumothorax found in 1648 patients with lung cancer from 1979-1990 are reported. Histopathologic types of cancer were adenocarcinoma in three cases, squamous cell carcinoma in two cases, bronchioloalveolar carcinoma in two cases, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma in one case. The primary tumor mass was not found even after thoracotomy in two cases. Spontaneous pneumothorax occurred on the ipsilateral side of the cancer. All the patients were more than 40 years old with a history of smoking 1-2 packs a day for 20 to 50 years, and had chronic lung diseases. The authors emphasize that bronchogenic carcinoma may be one of the causes of spontaneous pneumothorax in appropriate clinical settings

Spontaneous low-frequency oscillations in cerebral vessels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schytz, Henrik W; Hansson, Andreas; Phillip, Dorte

2010-01-01

). Analysis of CA by measurement of spontaneous oscillations in the low-frequency spectrum in cerebral vessels might be a useful tool for assessing risk and investigating different treatment strategies in carotid artery disease (CAD) and stroke. We reviewed studies exploring spontaneous oscillations...

Two types of mental fatigue affect spontaneous oscillatory brain activities in different ways

OpenAIRE

Shigihara, Yoshihito; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ishii, Akira; Kanai, Etsuko; Funakura, Masami; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi

2013-01-01

Abstract Background Fatigue has a multi-factorial nature. We examined the effects of two types of mental fatigue on spontaneous oscillatory brain activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Methods Participants were randomly assigned to two groups in a single-blinded, crossover fashion to perform two types of mental fatigue-inducing experiments. Each experiment consisted of a 30-min fatigue-inducing 0- or 2-back test session and two evaluation sessions performed just before and after the fat...

Spontaneous rupture of vaginal enterocele

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, J H; Galatius, H; Hansen, P K

1985-01-01

Spontaneous rupture of an enterocele is a rare complication. Only 24 cases including the present case have been reported in the literature. The patients were elderly and had had at least one vaginal operation. The patients were remarkably unaffected symptomatically on admission.......Spontaneous rupture of an enterocele is a rare complication. Only 24 cases including the present case have been reported in the literature. The patients were elderly and had had at least one vaginal operation. The patients were remarkably unaffected symptomatically on admission....

Spontaneous emission spectra and simulating multiple spontaneous generation coherence in a five-level atomic medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jiahua; Liu Jibing; Qi Chunchao; Chen Aixi

2006-01-01

We investigate the features of the spontaneous emission spectra in a coherently driven cold five-level atomic system by means of a radio frequency (rf) or microwave field driving a hyperfine transition within the ground state. It is shown that a few interesting phenomena such as spectral-line narrowing, spectral-line enhancement, spectral-line suppression, and spontaneous emission quenching can be realized by modulating the frequency and intensity of the rf-driving field in our system. In the dressed-state picture of the coupling and rf-driving fields, we find that this coherently driven atomic system has three close-lying levels so that multiple spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) arises. Our considered atomic model can be found in real atoms, such as rubidium or sodium, so a corresponding experiment can be done to observe the expected phenomena related to SGC reported by Fountoulakis et al. [Phys. Rev. A 73, 033811 (2006)], since no rigorous conditions are required

Okulo natural reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamakawa, Minoru

1993-01-01

French CEA has reported in 1972 that natural nuclear reactors existed in Okulo uranium deposit in Gabon in Africa, that caused nuclear fission chain reaction (Okulo phenomena) spontaneously two billion years ago. The fission products and transuranic elements produced by the natural reactors have been preserved in strata without movement while subjected to geological phenomena for such very long years. 16 zones of the natural reactors have been discovered so far. The geological features of the Okulo uranium deposit are explained. The total amount of 235 U lost by the chain reaction was estimated to be about 6t, and the fission products were about 6t. The Okulo phenomena offered the valuable results of the synthetic formation disposal test that the nature has carried out for such long years. The significance of the study on natural analog is discussed. Organic substances and the mechanism of holding and movement of uranium and fission nuclides, the stability of uraninite and the age measurement of the deposit by Nd-Sm process are reported as the main results. (K.I.)

Spontaneous rupture of choledochal cyst: case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Ho Seob; Nam, Kyung Jin; Lee, Jin Hwa; Kim, Chan Sung; Choi, Jong Cheol; Oh, Jong Young

2002-01-01

Spontaneous rupture of a choledochal cyst leading to biliary peritonitis is a rare complication which can be fatal if not promptly diagnosed. The authors report the ultrasound and CT findings of two cases of spontaneous choledochal cystic rupture and the biliary peritonitis which ensued

Spontaneous rupture of choledochal cyst: case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Ho Seob; Nam, Kyung Jin; Lee, Jin Hwa; Kim, Chan Sung; Choi, Jong Cheol; Oh, Jong Young [Dong-a University College of Medicine, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

2002-11-01

Spontaneous rupture of a choledochal cyst leading to biliary peritonitis is a rare complication which can be fatal if not promptly diagnosed. The authors report the ultrasound and CT findings of two cases of spontaneous choledochal cystic rupture and the biliary peritonitis which ensued.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and its cosmological consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobzarev, I.Yu.

1975-01-01

The concept of symmetry and of the spontaneous symmetry breaking are presented in popular form as applied to quantum physics. Though the presence of the spontaneous symmetry breaking is not proved directly for interactions of elementary particles, on considering the hypothesis of its presence as applied to the hot Universe theory a possibility of obtaining rather uncommon cosmological consequences is discussed. In particular, spontaneous symmetry breaking of vacuum and the rather hot Universe lead necessarily to the presence of the domain structure of the Universe with the surfase energy at the domain interface in the form of a real physical object

Spontaneous ovulation or male effect in alpacas and llamas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumar JB

2016-08-01

Full Text Available New discoveries in ovulation induced mammals, researchers considered the question of whether spontaneous and induced ovulations are distinct entities or individual parts of a single continuum of a “malefacilitated oestrus and ovulation”. This rigid classification should be taken with precaution, because is possible that the various mechanisms involved in the spontaneous ovulation can, under specific conditions coexist in some determined species. It is possible that male hormones can provoke the ovulation by masculine pheromones. The “Ram Effect” can be used to synchronize ewes naturally, for artificial insemination. Pheromones are specialized hormones released by the ram and smelled by the ewes; they are found in the wool and wax, in such a way that synchronized the heat and the advancement of the breeding season Also, using artificial vaginal-cervical stimulation (AVS with a glass rod, ovulation has been induced in the mink, shrews and felids. This form of tactile stimulation (AVS has found no ability for induction of ovulation in SAC. Additional stimuli/cues are often necessary to facilitate the ovulatory response. They include olfactory, visual, auditory or posture, more of them very common in SAC. Few research studies in alpacas and llamas showed a variable number of females ovulating by the sole proximity of the male to the female, by adopting the copulatory position (posture (sitting or prone position, female to female mounting (tactile, males mounting females covered with aprons to avoid penis intromission (tactile and auditory, interrupted matings, sitting close to a male copulating to a female (visual, olfactory?, the guttural sound (orgling made by the copulating male (auditory, and probably other non-identified cues. The rate of spontaneous ovulation in alpacas and llamas, increase up to 50% during the breeding season. These spontaneous ovulation has been diagnosed by sexual behavior (female rejection to the male, by

Improved resonance formulas for cross sections of fissile elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segev, M.

1978-01-01

The Adler--Adler cross-section formalism with energy-dependent parameters is a practical approximation to the R-matrix formalism, on the basis of the smallness of the s-wave neutron width in fissile elements. Attempts were made to represent experimental cross sections by the Adler--Adler formulas through an initial representation by the Reich--Moore approximation of R-matrix and a subsequent conversion of the Reich--Moore formulas to the Adler--Adler formulas. Adler and Adler foresaw difficulties in associating their formulas with approximate R-matrix theories such as those of Reich and Moore. Indeed, it is shown that, due to the nonunitarity of the Adler--Adler formalism on the one hand and the unitarity, by definition, of the Reich--Moore formalism on the other hand, the conversion from the latter to the former is ambiguous. Examples are shown to demonstrate that this ambiguity results in numerical inaccuracies, sometimes very large ones, for neutron widths that are not extremely small. Improved Adler--Adler-type formulas have been derived from the R-matrix formalism. In these formulas, the multipliers of the Breit--Wigner resonance lines exhibit more explicit energy dependence than their original counterparts, mainly in the form of additional terms in the formula for the total cross section. The conversion from Reich--Moore cross sections to the improved resonance formulas is shown to be much less ambiguous and to produce very accurate cross sections. In particular, the inaccuracies encountered with the Reich--Moore to Adler--Adler conversion are eliminated. A computer code, PEDRA, was written to perform the conversion from a given set of Reich--Moore parameters to the parameters required in the improved formulas. The numerical algorithm of this code is based on an adaptation with modifications of the numerical approach of de Saussure--Perez in the POLLA code, which converts Reich--Moore parameters to Adler--Adler parameters. 7 figures, 1 table

Potential of Lactobacillus reuteri from Spontaneous 
Sourdough as a Starter Additive for Improving Quality Parameters of Bread

Science.gov (United States)

Vaičiulytė-Funk, Lina; Šalomskienė, Joana; Alenčikienė, Gitana; Mieželienė, Aldona

2016-01-01

Summary Retardation of microbial spoilage of bread can be achieved by the use of spontaneous sourdough with an antimicrobial activity. This study was undertaken to identify lactic acid bacteria naturally occurring in spontaneous sourdough and use them for quality improvement and prolonging shelf life of rye, wheat and rye with wheat bread. Identification of isolates from spontaneous sourdough by pyrosequencing assay showed that Lactobacillus reuteri were dominant lactic acid bacteria. The isolates showed a wide range of antimicrobial activity and displayed a synergistic activity against other lactobacilli, some lactococci and foodborne yeasts. The best application of spontaneous sourdough was noticed in the rye bread with the lowest crumb firmness of the final product, although the sensory results of wheat and rye with wheat bread did not statistically differ from control bread. L. reuteri showed a high preserving capacity against fungi during storage. This may be due to bacteriocins and various fatty acids secreted into the growth medium that were identified by agar well diffusion assay and gas chromatography. L. reuteri showing high antimicrobial activity have the potential to be used as a starter additive that could improve safety and/or shelf life of bread. PMID:27956866

Influence of Internal and External Noise on Spontaneous Visuomotor Synchronization.

Science.gov (United States)

Varlet, Manuel; Schmidt, R C; Richardson, Michael J

2016-01-01

Historically, movement noise or variability is considered to be an undesirable property of biological motor systems. In particular, noise is typically assumed to degrade the emergence and stability of rhythmic motor synchronization. Recently, however, it has been suggested that small levels of noise might actually improve the functioning of motor systems and facilitate their adaptation to environmental events. Here, the authors investigated whether noise can facilitate spontaneous rhythmic visuomotor synchronization. They examined the influence of internal noise in the rhythmic limb movements of participants and external noise in the movement of an oscillating visual stimulus on the occurrence of spontaneous synchronization. By indexing the natural frequency variability of participants and manipulating the frequency variability of the visual stimulus, the authors demonstrated that both internal and external noise degrade synchronization when the participants' and stimulus movement frequencies are similar, but can actually facilitate synchronization when the frequencies are different. Furthermore, the two kinds of noise interact with each other. Internal noise facilitates synchronization only when external noise is minimal and vice versa. Too much internal and external noise together degrades synchronization. These findings open new perspectives for better understanding the role of noise in human rhythmic coordination.

Group theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghaboussi, F.

1987-01-01

The connection between the minimality of the Higgs field potential and the maximal little groups of its representation obtained by spontaneous symmetry breaking is analyzed. It is shown that for several representations the lowest minimum of the potential is related to the maximal little group of those representations. Furthermore, a practical necessity criterion is given for the representation of the Higgs field needed for spontaneous symmetry breaking

Chronic Hepatitis B with Spontaneous Severe Acute Exacerbation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Lun Tsai

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV infection is a major global health problem with an estimated 400 million HBV carriers worldwide. In the natural history of chronic hepatitis B (CHB, spontaneous acute exacerbation (AE is not uncommon, with a cumulative incidence of 10%–30% every year. While exacerbations can be mild, some patients may develop hepatic decompensation and even die. The underlying pathogenesis is possibly related to the activation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated immune response against HBV. An upsurge of serum HBV DNA usually precedes the rise of alanine aminotransferase (ALT and bilirubin. Whether antiviral treatment can benefit CHB with severe AE remains controversial, but early nucleos(tide analogues treatment seemed to be associated with an improved outcome. There has been no randomized study that compared the effects of different nucleos(tide analogues (NA in the setting of CHB with severe AE. However, potent NAs with good resistance profiles are recommended. In this review, we summarized current knowledge regarding the natural history, pathogenetic mechanisms, and therapeutic options of CHB with severe AE.

Spontaneous polyploidization in cucumber.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez-Madera, Axel O; Miller, Nathan D; Spalding, Edgar P; Weng, Yiqun; Havey, Michael J

2017-07-01

This is the first quantitative estimation of spontaneous polyploidy in cucumber and we detected 2.2% polyploids in a greenhouse study. We provide evidence that polyploidization is consistent with endoreduplication and is an on-going process during plant growth. Cucumber occasionally produces polyploid plants, which are problematic for growers because these plants produce misshaped fruits with non-viable seeds. In this study, we undertook the first quantitative study to estimate the relative frequency of spontaneous polyploids in cucumber. Seeds of recombinant inbred lines were produced in different environments, plants were grown in the field and greenhouse, and flow cytometry was used to establish ploidies. From 1422 greenhouse-grown plants, the overall relative frequency of spontaneous polyploidy was 2.2%. Plants possessed nuclei of different ploidies in the same leaves (mosaic) and on different parts of the same plant (chimeric). Our results provide evidence of endoreduplication and polysomaty in cucumber, and that it is an on-going and dynamic process. There was a significant effect (p = 0.018) of seed production environment on the occurrence of polyploid plants. Seed and seedling traits were not accurate predictors of eventual polyploids, and we recommend that cucumber producers rogue plants based on stature and leaf serration to remove potential polyploids.

Spontaneous Achilles tendon rupture in alkaptonuria | Mohammed ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Spontaneous Achilles tendon ruptures are uncommon. We present a 46-year-old man with spontaneous Achilles tendon rupture due to ochronosis. To our knowledge, this has not been previously reported in Sudan literature. The tendon of the reported patient healed well after debridement and primary repairs.

Spontaneous magnetization in high-density quark matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsue, Yasuhiko; da Providência, João; Providência, Constanca

2015-01-01

It is shown that spontaneous magnetization occurs due to the anomalous magnetic moments of quarks in high-density quark matter under the tensor-type four-point interaction. The spin polarized condensate for each flavor of quark appears at high baryon density, which leads to the spontaneous magnet...

Study Of Thorium As A Nuclear Fuel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prakash Humane

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Conventional fuel sources for power generation are to be replacing by nuclear power sources like nuclear fuel Uranium. But Uranium-235 is the only fissile fuel which is in 0.72 found in nature as an isotope of Uranium-238. U-238 is abundant in nature which is not fissile while U-239 by alpha decay naturally converted to Uranium- 235. For accompanying this nuclear fuel there is another nuclear fuel Thorium is present in nature is abundant can be used as nuclear fuel and is as much as safe and portable like U-235.

Radiologic findings of acute spontaneous subdural hematomas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun Jung; Bae, Won Kyong; Gyu, Cha Jang; Kim, Gun Woo; Cho, Won Su; Kim, Il Young; Lee, Kyung Suk [Soonchunhyang University, Chonan (Korea, Republic of). Chonan Hospital

1998-03-01

To evaluate the characteristic CT and cerebral angiographic findings in patients with acute spontaneous subdural hematomas and correlate these imaging findings with causes of bleeding and clinical outcome. Twenty-one patients with nontraumatic acute spontaneous subdural hematoma presenting during the last five years underwent CT scanning and cerebral angiography was performed in twelve. To determine the cause of bleedings, CT and angiographic findings were retrospectively analysed. Clinical history, laboratory and operative findings, and final clinical outcome were reviewed. Acute spontaneous subdural hematoma is a rare condition, and the mortality rate is high. In patients with acute spontaneous subdural hematoma, as seen on CT, associated subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage is strongly indicative of intracerebral vascular abnormalities such as aneurysm and arteriovenous malformation, and cerebral angiography is necessary. To ensure proper treatment and thus markedly reduce mortality, the causes of bleedings should be prompty determined by means of cerebral angiography. (author). 20 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs.

Commissioning Measurements and Experience Obtained from the Installation of a Fissile Mass Flow monitor in the URAL Electrochemical Integrated Plant (UEIP) in Novouralsk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

March-Leuba, J.; Mastal, E.; Powell, D.; Sumner, J.; Uckan, T.; Vines, V.

1999-01-01

The Blend Down Monitoring System (BDMS) equipment sent earlier to the Ural Electrochemical Integrated Plant (UEIP) at Novouralsk, Russia, was installed and implemented successfully on February 2, 1999. The BDMS installation supports the highly enriched uranium (HEU) Transparency Implementation Program for material subject to monitoring under the HEU purchase agreement between the United States of America (USA) and the Russian Federation (RF). The BDMS consists of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Fissile (uranium-235) Mass Flow Monitor (FMFM) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Enrichment Monitor (EM). Two BDMSs for monitoring the Main and Reserve HEU blending process lines were installed at UEIP. Independent operation of the FMFM Main and FMFM Reserve was successfully demonstrated for monitoring the fissile mass flow as well as the traceability of HEU to the product low enriched uranium. The FMFM systems failed when both systems were activated during the calibration phase due to a synchronization problem between the systems. This operational failure was caused by the presence of strong electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the blend point. The source-modulator shutter motion of the two FMFM systems was not being properly synchronized because of EMI producing a spurious signal on the synchronization cable connecting the two FMFM cabinets. The signature of this failure was successfully reproduced at ORNL after the visit. This unexpected problem was eliminated by a hardware modification and software improvements during a recent visit (June 9-11, 1999) to UEIP, and both systems are now operating as expected

Spontaneous onset of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Rooij, A.M.; Perez, R.S.G.M.; Huygen, F.J.; van Eijs, F.; van Kleef, M.; Bauer, M.C.R.; van Hilten, J.J.; Marinus, J.

2010-01-01

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) usually develops after a noxious event, but spontaneous onsets have been described in 3-11% of the cases. The existence of spontaneous-onset CRPS is highly debated and the aim of the present study was therefore to compare the phenotypic characteristics of CRPS

Spatial diversity of spontaneous activity in the cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Yong-Yi Tan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The neocortex is a layered sheet across which a basic organization is thought to widely apply. The variety of spontaneous activity patterns is similar throughout the cortex, consistent with the notion of a basic cortical organization. However, the basic organization is only an outline which needs adjustments and additions to account for the structural and functional diversity across cortical layers and areas. Such diversity suggests that spontaneous activity is spatially diverse in any particular behavioral state. Accordingly, this review summarizes the laminar and areal diversity in cortical activity during fixation and slow oscillations, and the effects of attention, anesthesia and plasticity on the cortical distribution of spontaneous activity. Among questions that remain open, characterizing the spatial diversity in spontaneous membrane potential may help elucidate how differences in circuitry among cortical regions supports their varied functions. More work is also needed to understand whether cortical spontaneous activity not only reflects cortical circuitry, but also contributes to determining the outcome of plasticity, so that it is itself a factor shaping the functional diversity of the cortex.

Socioeconomic position and the risk of spontaneous abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Norsker, Filippa Nyboe; Espenhain, Laura; rogvi, Sofie

2012-01-01

To investigate the relationship between different indicators of socioeconomic position and the risk of spontaneous abortion.......To investigate the relationship between different indicators of socioeconomic position and the risk of spontaneous abortion....

Spontaneous indices are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipman, Ruth D; Salisbury, Julie K; Taylor, J Andrew

2003-10-01

Spontaneously occurring, parallel fluctuations in arterial pressure and heart period are frequently used as indices of baroreflex function. Despite the convenience of spontaneous indices, their relation to the arterial baroreflex remains unclear. Therefore, in 97 volunteers, we derived 5 proposed indices (sequence method, alpha-index, transfer function, low-frequency transfer function, and impulse response function), compared them with arterial baroreflex gain (by the modified Oxford pharmacologic technique), and examined their relation to carotid distensibility and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. The subjects comprised men and women (n=41) aged 25 to 86 years, 30% of whom had established coronary artery disease. Generally, the indices were correlated with each other (except alpha-index and low-frequency transfer function) and with baroreflex gain. However, the Bland-Altman method demonstrated that the spontaneous indices had limits of agreement as large as the baroreflex gain itself. Even in individuals within the lowest tertile of baroreflex gain for whom baroreflex gain appears to be the most clinically relevant, spontaneous indices failed to relate to baroreflex gain. In fact, for these individuals, there was no correlation between any index and baroreflex gain. Forward stepwise linear regression showed that all spontaneous indices and baroreflex gain were related to respiratory sinus arrhythmia, but only baroreflex gain was related to carotid distensibility. Therefore, these data suggest that spontaneous indices are inadequate estimates of gain and are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex function.

Natural relations and Appelquist-Carazzone decoupling theorem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grzadkowski, B.; Krawczyk, P.; Pokorski, S.

1984-01-01

It is pointed out that in some cases violation of the Appelquist-Carazzone decoupling theorem in spontaneously broken gauge theories is related to the presence in such theories of the so-called natural zeroth-order relations. In this context heavy-fermion effects in the Glashow-Salam-Weinberg model are discussed

Mitochondrial Mutation Rate, Spectrum and Heteroplasmy in Caenorhabditis elegans Spontaneous Mutation Accumulation Lines of Differing Population Size.

Science.gov (United States)

Konrad, Anke; Thompson, Owen; Waterston, Robert H; Moerman, Donald G; Keightley, Peter D; Bergthorsson, Ulfar; Katju, Vaishali

2017-06-01

Mitochondrial genomes of metazoans, given their elevated rates of evolution, have served as pivotal markers for phylogeographic studies and recent phylogenetic events. In order to determine the dynamics of spontaneous mitochondrial mutations in small populations in the absence and presence of selection, we evolved mutation accumulation (MA) lines of Caenorhabditis elegans in parallel over 409 consecutive generations at three varying population sizes of N = 1, 10, and 100 hermaphrodites. The N =1 populations should have a minimal influence of natural selection to provide the spontaneous mutation rate and the expected rate of neutral evolution, whereas larger population sizes should experience increasing intensity of selection. New mutations were identified by Illumina paired-end sequencing of 86 mtDNA genomes across 35 experimental lines and compared with published genomes of natural isolates. The spontaneous mitochondrial mutation rate was estimated at 1.05 × 10-7/site/generation. A strong G/C→A/T mutational bias was observed in both the MA lines and the natural isolates. This suggests that the low G + C content at synonymous sites is the product of mutation bias rather than selection as previously proposed. The mitochondrial effective population size per worm generation was estimated to be 62. Although it was previously concluded that heteroplasmy was rare in C. elegans, the vast majority of mutations in this study were heteroplasmic despite an experimental regime exceeding 400 generations. The frequencies of frameshift and nonsynonymous mutations were negatively correlated with population size, which suggests their deleterious effects on fitness and a potent role for selection in their eradication. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Distinct spontaneous shrinkage of a sporadic vestibular schwannoma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Xiaowen; Cayé-Thomasen, Per; Stangerup, Sven-Eric

2013-01-01

on "shrinkage" or "negative growth" or "regression" or "involution" of the tumor were selected, and the contents on the rate, extent and mechanism of spontaneous tumor shrinkage were extracted and reviewed. The reported rate of spontaneous shrinkage of vestibular schwannoma is 5-10% of patients managed......We present a case with outspoken spontaneous vestibular schwannoma shrinkage and review the related literature. The patient was initially diagnosed with a left-sided, intrameatal vestibular schwannoma, which subsequently grew into the cerebello-pontine angle (CPA), followed by total shrinkage...... of the CPA component without any intervention over a 12-year observation period. The literature on spontaneous tumor shrinkage was retrieved by searching the subject terms "vestibular schwannoma, conservative management" in PubMed/MEDLINE database, without a time limit. Of the published data, the articles...

Spontaneous breathing during lung-protective ventilation in an experimental acute lung injury model: high transpulmonary pressure associated with strong spontaneous breathing effort may worsen lung injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Takeshi; Uchiyama, Akinori; Matsuura, Nariaki; Mashimo, Takashi; Fujino, Yuji

2012-05-01

We investigated whether potentially injurious transpulmonary pressure could be generated by strong spontaneous breathing and exacerbate lung injury even when plateau pressure is limited to ventilation, each combined with weak or strong spontaneous breathing effort. Inspiratory pressure for low tidal volume ventilation was set at 10 cm H2O and tidal volume at 6 mL/kg. For moderate tidal volume ventilation, the values were 20 cm H2O and 7-9 mL/kg. The groups were: low tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingweak, low tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingstrong, moderate tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingweak, and moderate tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingstrong. Each group had the same settings for positive end-expiratory pressure of 8 cm H2O. Respiratory variables were measured every 60 mins. Distribution of lung aeration and alveolar collapse were histologically evaluated. Low tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingstrong showed the most favorable oxygenation and compliance of respiratory system, and the best lung aeration. By contrast, in moderate tidal volume ventilation+spontaneous breathingstrong, the greatest atelectasis with numerous neutrophils was observed. While we applied settings to maintain plateau pressure at ventilation+spontaneous breathingstrong, transpulmonary pressure rose >33 cm H2O. Both minute ventilation and respiratory rate were higher in the strong spontaneous breathing groups. Even when plateau pressure is limited to mechanical ventilation, transpulmonary pressure and tidal volume should be strictly controlled to prevent further lung injury.

Spontaneous expression of magnetic compass orientation in an epigeic rodent: the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveriusová, Ludmila; Němec, Pavel; Pavelková, Zuzana; Sedláček, František

2014-07-01

Magnetoreception has been convincingly demonstrated in only a few mammalian species. Among rodents, magnetic compass orientation has been documented in four species of subterranean mole rats and two epigeic (i.e. active above ground) species—the Siberian hamster and the C57BL/6J mouse. The mole rats use the magnetic field azimuth to determine compass heading; their directional preference is spontaneous and unimodal, and their magnetic compass is magnetite-mediated. By contrast, the primary component of orientation response is learned in the hamster and the mouse, but both species also exhibit a weak spontaneous bimodal preference in the natural magnetic field. To determine whether the magnetic compass of wild epigeic rodents features the same functional properties as that of laboratory rodents, we investigated magnetic compass orientation in the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (Cricetidae, Rodentia). The voles exhibited a robust spontaneous bimodal directional preference, i.e. built nests and slept preferentially along the north-south axis, and deflected their directional preference according to a shift in the direction of magnetic north, clearly indicating that they were deriving directional information from the magnetic field. Thus, bimodal, axially symmetrical directional choice seems to be a common feature shared by epigeic rodents. However, spontaneous directional preference in the bank vole appeared to be more pronounced than that reported in the hamster and the mouse. These findings suggest that bank voles are well suited for future studies investigating the adaptive significance and mechanisms of magnetic orientation in epigeic rodents.

Cigarette, alcohol, and caffeine consumption: risk factors for spontaneous abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between cigarette, alcohol, and caffeine consumption and the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. METHODS: The study population consisted of 330 women with spontaneous abortion and 1168 pregnant women receiving antenatal care. A case-control design was utilized;...... units alcohol per week and 375 mg or more caffeine per day during pregnancy may increase the risk of spontaneous abortion.......OBJECTIVE: To study the association between cigarette, alcohol, and caffeine consumption and the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. METHODS: The study population consisted of 330 women with spontaneous abortion and 1168 pregnant women receiving antenatal care. A case-control design was utilized......; cases were defined as women with a spontaneous abortion in gestational week 6-16 and controls as women with a live fetus in gestational week 6-16. The variables studied comprise age, parity, occupational situation, cigarette, alcohol, and caffeine consumption. The association between cigarette, alcohol...

Spontaneous Hedonic Reactions to Social Media Cues.

Science.gov (United States)

van Koningsbruggen, Guido M; Hartmann, Tilo; Eden, Allison; Veling, Harm

2017-05-01

Why is it so difficult to resist the desire to use social media? One possibility is that frequent social media users possess strong and spontaneous hedonic reactions to social media cues, which, in turn, makes it difficult to resist social media temptations. In two studies (total N = 200), we investigated less-frequent and frequent social media users' spontaneous hedonic reactions to social media cues using the Affect Misattribution Procedure-an implicit measure of affective reactions. Results demonstrated that frequent social media users showed more favorable affective reactions in response to social media (vs. control) cues, whereas less-frequent social media users' affective reactions did not differ between social media and control cues (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, the spontaneous hedonic reactions to social media (vs. control) cues were related to self-reported cravings to use social media and partially accounted for the link between social media use and social media cravings (Study 2). These findings suggest that frequent social media users' spontaneous hedonic reactions in response to social media cues might contribute to their difficulties in resisting desires to use social media.

Carotid Artery Stenting in a Patient with Spontaneous Recanalization of a Proximal Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion: a Case Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Eui Jong; Koh, Jun Seok; Choi, Woo Suk

2006-01-01

We report here on a rare case of carotid artery angioplasty and stenting in a patient with spontaneous recanalization after complete occlusion of the proximal internal carotid artery (ICA). The patient initially showed severe stenosis at the left proximal ICA on MR angiography (MRA). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) performed three days after MRA showed complete occlusion of the proximal ICA. The follow-up DSA after four weeks showed recanalization of the ICA, and then carotid artery stenting was successfully performed. There has been no neurologic complication during more than one year follow-up. cute internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusions may result in profound disability and death (1). An occluded ICA can spontaneously recanalize, but this doesn't happen frequently, and the natural course of a proximal ICA occlusion and its possibility of recanalization, including the exact time of recanalization after occlusion, are not well known (2, 3). A few studies have reported the incidence of spontaneous recanalization of the proximal internal carotid artery, which has mostly occurred in patients with ICA dissections (4 6). A few limited studies have reported a considerable incidence of spontaneous recanalization in patients with underlying atherosclerotic lesion or atherothombotic diseases (2). The possibility of repeated occlusion and repeated cerebral ischemic infarction may exist for the patients exhibiting spontaneous recanalization of the ICA and underlying atherosclerosis. We report here on a case of carotid artery stenting (CAS) in a patient who exhibited underlying atherosclerosis with spontaneous recanalization after complete occlusion of the proximal ICA

Spontaneous globe luxation associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Ashok Kumar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous globe luxation is a rarely reported condition which can lead to complications like optic neuropathy. Common causes are thyroid eye disease, shallow orbit and floppy eyelid syndrome. We report a case of spontaneous globe luxation with the onset and severity associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. To our knowledge, this is the first case of spontaneous globe luxation associated with COPD.

Spontaneous object recognition: a promising approach to the comparative study of memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel eBlaser

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous recognition of a novel object is a popular measure of exploratory behavior, perception and recognition memory in rodent models. Because of its relative simplicity and speed of testing, the variety of stimuli that can be used, and its ecological validity across species, it is also an attractive task for comparative research. To date, variants of this test have been used with vertebrate and invertebrate species, but the methods have seldom been sufficiently standardized to allow cross-species comparison. Here, we review the methods necessary for the study of novel object recognition in mammalian and non-mammalian models, as well as the results of these experiments. Critical to the use of this test is an understanding of the organism’s initial response to a novel object, the modulation of exploration by context, and species differences in object perception and exploratory behaviors. We argue that with appropriate consideration of species differences in perception, object affordances, and natural exploratory behaviors, the spontaneous object recognition test can be a valid and versatile tool for translational research with non-mammalian models.

Surgical management of spontaneous hypertensive brainstem hemorrhage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bal Krishna Shrestha

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous hypertensive brainstem hemorrhage is the spontaneous brainstem hemorrhage associated with long term hypertension but not having definite focal or objective lesion. It is a catastrophic event which has a poor prognosis and usually managed conservatively. It is not uncommon, especially in eastern Asian populations, accounting approximately for 10% of the intracerebral hemorrhage. Before the advent of computed tomography, the diagnosis of brainstem hemorrhage was usually based on the clinical picture or by autopsy and believed to be untreatable via surgery. The introduction of computed tomography permitted to categorize the subtypes of brainstem hemorrhage with more predicted outcome. Continuous ongoing developments in the stereotactic surgery and microsurgery have added more specific surgical management in these patients. However, whether to manage conservatively or promptly with surgical evacuation of hematoma is still a controversy. Studies have shown that an accurate prognostic assessment based on clinical and radiological features on admission is critical for establishing a reasonable therapeutic approach. Some authors have advocate conservative management, whereas others have suggested the efficacy of surgical treatment in brainstem hemorrhage. With the widening knowledge in microsurgical techniques as well as neuroimaging technology, there seems to have more optimistic hope of surgical management of spontaneous hypertensive brainstem hemorrhage for better prognosis. Here we present five cases of severe spontaneous hypertensive brainstem hemorrhage patients who had undergone surgery; and explore the possibilities of surgical management in patients with the spontaneous hypertensive brainstem hemorrhage.

Active hippocampal networks undergo spontaneous synaptic modification.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masako Tsukamoto-Yasui

Full Text Available The brain is self-writable; as the brain voluntarily adapts itself to a changing environment, the neural circuitry rearranges its functional connectivity by referring to its own activity. How the internal activity modifies synaptic weights is largely unknown, however. Here we report that spontaneous activity causes complex reorganization of synaptic connectivity without any external (or artificial stimuli. Under physiologically relevant ionic conditions, CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampal slices displayed spontaneous spikes with bistable slow oscillations of membrane potential, alternating between the so-called UP and DOWN states. The generation of slow oscillations did not require fast synaptic transmission, but their patterns were coordinated by local circuit activity. In the course of generating spontaneous activity, individual neurons acquired bidirectional long-lasting synaptic modification. The spontaneous synaptic plasticity depended on a rise in intracellular calcium concentrations of postsynaptic cells, but not on NMDA receptor activity. The direction and amount of the plasticity varied depending on slow oscillation patterns and synapse locations, and thus, they were diverse in a network. Once this global synaptic refinement occurred, the same neurons now displayed different patterns of spontaneous activity, which in turn exhibited different levels of synaptic plasticity. Thus, active networks continuously update their internal states through ongoing synaptic plasticity. With computational simulations, we suggest that with this slow oscillation-induced plasticity, a recurrent network converges on a more specific state, compared to that with spike timing-dependent plasticity alone.

Shared risk aversion in spontaneous and induced abortion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Catalano, Ralph; Bruckner, Tim A.; Karasek, Deborah

2016-01-01

spontaneous and non-clinically indicated induced abortions. This suggests, consistent with our theory, that mothers of conception cohorts that yielded more spontaneous abortions than expected opted more frequently than expected for non-clinically indicated induced abortion. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION...

Analysis of triso packing fraction and fissile material to DB-MHR using LWR reprocessed fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Clarysson A.M. da; Pereira, Claubia; Costa, Antonella L.; Veloso, Maria Auxiliadora F.; Gual, Maritza R.

2013-01-01

Gas-cooled and graphite-moderated reactor is being considered the next generation of nuclear power plants because of its characteristic to operate with reprocessed fuel. The typical fuel element consists of a hexagonal block with coolant and fuel channels. The fuel pin is manufactured into compacted ceramic-coated particles (TRISO) which are used to achieve both a high burnup and a high degree of passive safety. This work uses the MCNPX 2.6.0 to simulate the active core of Deep Burn Modular Helium Reactor (DB-MHR) employing PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) reprocessed fuel. However, before a complete study of DB-MHR fuel cycle and recharge, it is necessary to evaluate the neutronic parameters to some values of TRISO Packing Fractions (PF) and Fissile Material (FM). Each PF and FM combination would generate the best behaviour of neutronic parameters. Therefore, this study configures several PF and FM combinations considering the heterogeneity of TRISO layers and lattice. The results present the best combination of PF and FM values according with the more appropriated behaviour of the neutronic parameters during the burnup. In this way, the optimized combination can be used to future works of MHR fuel cycle and recharge. (author)

Spontaneous passage of long, sharp gastrointestinal foreign body in a child.

Science.gov (United States)

Karthikeyan, Vilvapathy Senguttuvan; Ansari, Mohammed Gaffoor; Suresh, Ramasamy; Easwaran, Bettaiyagowder

2015-01-19

Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common problem in children. Up to 90% of these FBs pass spontaneously. FBs reaching the stomach usually pass out spontaneously. Exceptions to this spontaneous passage include a long FB that cannot cross the pylorus, duodenum or ileocaecal junction. We present a case of a 9-year boy who accidentally ingested a long paper pin, which spontaneously passed in 26 h. This case is being reported to highlight the successful spontaneous passage of a 4 cm long sharp foreign body in a child. 2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Controlling spontaneous emission of light by photonic crystals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lodahl, Peter

2005-01-01

Photonic bandgap crystals were proposed almost two decades ago as a unique tool for controlling propagation and emission of light. Since then the research field of photonic crystals has exploded and many beautiful demonstrations of the use of photonic crystals and fibers for molding light...... propagation have appeared that hold great promises for integrated optics. These major achievements solidly demonstrate the ability to control propagation of light. In contrast, an experimental demonstration of the use of photonic crystals for timing the emission of light has so far lacked. In a recent...... publication in Nature, we have demonstrated experimentally that both the direction and time of spontaneous emission can be controlled, thereby confirming the original proposal by Eli Yablonovich that founded the field of photonic crystals. We believe that this work opens new opportunities for solid...

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech

OpenAIRE

Mehta, G.; Cutler, A.

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners’ experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ considerably, however, which suggests that laboratory results may not generalize to the recognition of spontaneous and read speech materials, and their response time to detect word-initial target phonem...

Spontaneous Splenic Rupture in Melanoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hadi Mirfazaelian

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous rupture of spleen due to malignant melanoma is a rare situation, with only a few case reports in the literature. This study reports a previously healthy, 30-year-old man who came with chief complaint of acute abdominal pain to emergency room. On physical examination, abdominal tenderness and guarding were detected to be coincident with hypotension. Ultrasonography revealed mild splenomegaly with moderate free fluid in abdominopelvic cavity. Considering acute abdominal pain and hemodynamic instability, he underwent splenectomy with splenic rupture as the source of bleeding. Histologic examination showed diffuse infiltration by tumor. Immunohistochemical study (positive for S100, HMB45, and vimentin and negative for CK, CD10, CK20, CK7, CD30, LCA, EMA, and chromogranin confirmed metastatic malignant melanoma. On further questioning, there was a past history of a nasal dark skin lesion which was removed two years ago with no pathologic examination. Spontaneous (nontraumatic rupture of spleen is an uncommon situation and it happens very rarely due to neoplastic metastasis. Metastasis of malignant melanoma is one of the rare causes of the spontaneous rupture of spleen.

Q-feber som årsag til spontan abort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Stine Yde; Mølbak, Kåre; Hjøllund, Niels Henrik

2011-01-01

Q-fever is a zoonotic infection. Pregnant women constitute a specific risk group as the infection may cause spontaneous abortion, intrauterine death, growth retardation, oligohydramnios and premature birth. A 39 year-old veterinarian had a spontaneous abortion in pregnancy week seven. During the ...

Flow Friction or Spontaneous Ignition?

Science.gov (United States)

Stoltzfus, Joel M.; Gallus, Timothy D.; Sparks, Kyle

2012-01-01

"Flow friction," a proposed ignition mechanism in oxygen systems, has proved elusive in attempts at experimental verification. In this paper, the literature regarding flow friction is reviewed and the experimental verification attempts are briefly discussed. Another ignition mechanism, a form of spontaneous combustion, is proposed as an explanation for at least some of the fire events that have been attributed to flow friction in the literature. In addition, the results of a failure analysis performed at NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility are presented, and the observations indicate that spontaneous combustion was the most likely cause of the fire in this 2000 psig (14 MPa) oxygen-enriched system.

Spontaneously broken abelian gauge invariant supersymmetric model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mainland, G.B.; Tanaka, K.

A model is presented that is invariant under an Abelian gauge transformation and a modified supersymmetry transformation. This model is broken spontaneously, and the interplay between symmetry breaking, Goldstone particles, and mass breaking is studied. In the present model, spontaneously breaking the Abelian symmetry of the vacuum restores the invariance of the vacuum under a modified supersymmetry transformation. (U.S.)

Spontaneous Perforation of Pyometra: A Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Pyometra is the accumulation of purulent material in the uterine cavity. Its reported incidence is 0.01–0.5% in gynecologic patients; however, as far as elderly patients are concerned, its incidence is 13.6% [3]. The most common cause of pyometra is malignant diseases of genital tract and the consequences of their treatment (radiotherapy. Other causes are benign tumors like leiomyoma, endometrial polyps, senile cervicitis, cervical occlusion after surgery, puerperal infections, and congenital cervical anomalies. Spontaneous rupture of the uterus is an extremely rare complication of pyometra. To our knowledge, only 21 cases of spontaneous perforation of pyometra have been reported in English literature since 1980. This paper reports an additional case of spontaneous uterine rupture.

Measurements of the effective range of fission fragments in UO2 and the disintegration constant for spontaneous fission of 238U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spaggiari, E.R.V.

1978-01-01

The results of measuments of the disintegration constant for spontaneous fission in 238 U are presented, with a discussion on the method used for the detection of fission tracks in muscovite mica. Samples of muscovite mica sandwiched between two natural uranium dioxide cylinders were irradiated with fragments of spontaneous fission and the etched tracks counted with projetion optical microscope. The effective thickness of the UO 2 layer which contributed to the observed tracks was measured through irradiation of mica samples, in contact with the UO 2 cylinder with 14,0 MeV neutrons from a (d,t) reaction. (Author) [pt

Spontaneous regression of metastases from malignant melanoma: a case report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalialis, Louise V; Drzewiecki, Krzysztof T; Mohammadi, Mahin

2008-01-01

A case of a 61-year-old male with widespread metastatic melanoma is presented 5 years after complete spontaneous cure. Spontaneous regression occurred in cutaneous, pulmonary, hepatic and cerebral metastases. A review of the literature reveals seven cases of regression of cerebral metastases......; this report is the first to document complete spontaneous regression of cerebral metastases from malignant melanoma by means of computed tomography scans. Spontaneous regression is defined as the partial or complete disappearance of a malignant tumour in the absence of all treatment or in the presence...

Investigation of mass and nuclear charge distributions in a fission induced by 3 MeV neutrons for some fissile nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamelin, Christiane

1983-01-01

After a presentation of the phenomenon of fission (liquid droplet model, microscopic model, Strutinski model, static approach to the scission point with the Fong statistical model and with the Wilkins thermodynamic model), this research thesis presents an experimental installation with its irradiation systems, its measurement assembly, its measurement process (rare gas emission). The author then describes the methods used to determine efficiencies: charge distributions within an isobaric chain, efficiency determination principle, choice of experimental parameters, test with Uranium 235. Experimental results are then presented and discussed in terms of mass distribution and of charge distribution for various uranium isotopes (235, 238 and 232). They are discussed with respect to the Wilkins model, to the pair breakage model, and to the calculation of the average number of neutrons emitted by different fissile systems

Novel folliculin (FLCN) mutation and familial spontaneous pneumothorax.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, J-F; Shen, X-Q; Zhu, F; Tian, L

2017-01-01

Familial spontaneous pneumothorax is one of the characteristics of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS), which is an autosomal dominant disease caused by the mutation of folliculin (FLCN). To investigate the mutation of FLCN gene in a familial spontaneous pneumothorax. Prospective case study. Clinical and genetic data of a Chinese family with four patients who presented spontaneous pneumothorax in the absence of skin lesions or renal tumors were collected. CT scan of patient's lung was applied for observation of pneumothorax. DNA sequencing of the coding exons (4-14 exons) of FLCN was performed for all 11 members of the family and 100 unrelated healthy controls. CT scan of patient's lung showed spontaneous pneumothorax. A mutation (c. 510C > G) that leads to a premature stop codon (p. Y170X) was found in the proband using DNA sequencing of coding exons (4-14 exons) of FLCN. This mutation was also observed in the other affected members of the family. A nonsense mutation of FLCN was found in a spontaneous pneumothorax family. Our results expand the mutational spectrum of FLCN in patients with BHDS. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Physicians. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

International conference on military conversion and science. Utilization/disposal of the excess fissile weapon materials: scientific, technological and socio-economic aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouzminov, V.; Martellini, M.

1996-01-01

The Proceedings of the Conference includes the papers presented by the eminent specialists in the field of utilisation and/or disposal of excess fissile materials, each with a separate abstract, as well as the Conference opening and introduction speeches. According to the concerned subjects presentations were divided into following five sessions: perspectives of nuclear research and development; Technical problems and possibilities of civilian utilization of Highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium including alternate strategies (application of MOX fuel) and operational and safety problems; Comparison of different options for weapon-grade Pu utilization connected to present programme for recycling of civilian Pu; Socio-economic aspects including cost of Pu conversion and fabrication of MOX fuel; Effects of different strategies of waste disposal including environmental and safety related issues

Far-Field Accumulation of Fissile Material From Waste Packages Containing Plutonium Disposition Waste Form

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J.P. Nicot

2000-01-01

The objective of this calculation is to estimate the quantity of fissile material that could accumulate in fractures in the rock beneath plutonium-ceramic (Pu-ceramic) and Mixed-Oxide (MOX) waste packages (WPs) as they degrade in the potential monitored geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. This calculation is to feed another calculation (Ref. 31) computing the probability of criticality in the systems described in Section 6 and then ultimately to a more general report on the impact of plutonium on the performance of the proposed repository (Ref. 32), both developed concurrently to this work. This calculation is done in accordance with the development plan TDP-DDC-MD-000001 (Ref. 9), item 5. The original document described in item 5 has been split into two documents: this calculation and Ref. 4. The scope of the calculation is limited to only very low flow rates because they lead to the most conservative cases for Pu accumulation and more generally are consistent with the way the effluent from the WP (called source term in this calculation) was calculated (Ref. 4). Ref. 4 (''In-Drift Accumulation of Fissile Material from WPs Containing Plutonium Disposition Waste Forms'') details the evolution through time (breach time is initial time) of the chemical composition of the solution inside the WP as degradation of the fuel and other materials proceed. It is the chemical solution used as a source term in this calculation. Ref. 4 takes that same source term and reacts it with the invert; this calculation reacts it with the rock. In addition to reactions with the rock minerals (that release Si and Ca), the basic mechanisms for actinide precipitation are dilution and mixing with resident water as explained in Section 2.1.4. No other potential mechanism such as flow through a reducing zone is investigated in this calculation. No attempt was made to use the effluent water from the bottom of the invert instead of using directly the effluent water from the WP. This

Imaging of early spontaneous osteonecrosis and osteoarthritis of the knee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusayama, Takeshi; Tomatsu, Taisuke

1999-01-01

In this paper, the available of MRI in diagnosis on early spontaneous osteonecrosis and osteoarthritis was investigated. Subjects were 5 cases (5 knees) with spontaneous osteonecrosis (stage 1 in Koshino's classification) and 96 cases (104 knees) in osteoarthritis who were more than 50 years old. Patients with an early spontaneous osteonecrosis were elderly females and had night pain and severe spontaneous pain. On MRI, lesions of all cases were clearly detected in early stage. On the other hand, only 47 of 104 knees (45%) were detected in patients with osteoarthritis, and mirror lesions at shank sides were detected in 45 of 47 knees. These results suggest that it is possible to diagnose early spontaneous osteonecrosis from osteoarthritis by MRI image with the clue to mirror lesion at shank sides, incidence, stage, etc. On the diagnosis of early spontaneous osteonecrosis, MRI image should be performed as soon as possible if a patient was older, had no anamnesis of lesions, and no changes by the X-ray radiography in spite of severe pain of the knee joints. (K.H.)

Spontaneous infected biloma: case report | Kimani | East African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Biloma is defined as any collection of bile outside the biliary tree. It mainly results from surgical complications and abdominal trauma. Spontaneous biloma is extremely rare and is occasionally associated with choledocholithiasis. This report describes a case of spontaneous biloma diagnosed radiologically and confirmed at ...

Spontaneous resolution of post-traumatic chronic subdural hematoma

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Here, we present a case of spontaneously resolved post-traumatic bilateral chronic subdural hematoma within a period of one month in a 55-year-old male and we discuss the probable mechanisms of pathophysiology in the spontaneous resolution of chronic subdural hematoma. Keywords: Antiaggregation therapy, chronic ...

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in N=3 supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zinov'ev, Yu.M.

1986-01-01

The possibility of the spontaneous symmetry breaking without a cosmological term in N=3 supergravity is investigated. A new, dual version of N=3 supergravity - U(3)-supergravity is constructed. Such a theory is shown to admit a spontaneous supersymmetry breaking without a cosmological term and with three arbitrary scales, including partial super-Higgs effect N=3 → N=2 and N=3 → N=1

Symmetry restoration in spontaneously broken induced gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amati, D.; Russo, J.

1990-01-01

We investigate the recuperation of expected invariant behaviours in a non-metric gravity theory in which the full general relativistic invariance is broken spontaneously. We show how dangerous increasing energy behaviours of physical amplitudes cancel in a highly non-trivial way. This evidences the expected loss of the vacuum generated scale in the UV regime and gives support for the consistency of spontaneously broken gravity theories. (orig.)

Thoracoscopic modified pleural tent for spontaneous pneumothorax.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawachi, Riken; Matsuwaki, Rie; Tachibana, Keisei; Karita, Shin; Nakazato, Yoko; Tanaka, Ryota; Nagashima, Yasushi; Takei, Hidefumi; Kondo, Haruhiko

2016-08-01

We developed a modified pleural tent (m-tent) procedure and used it in our hospital in almost 30 consecutive patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. The objective of this study was to clarify the feasibility and effectiveness of a thoracoscopic m-tent for the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax. From July 2013 to November 2014, 107 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax were treated in our institution. Eighty-nine of these patients were analysed retrospectively. The inclusion criteria for thoracoscopic m-tent for spontaneous pneumothorax were multiple and widespread bullae, postoperative relapse and secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. The surgical procedures were usually performed through three ports. After bullectomy, an m-tent is made to strip the parietal pleura off the chest wall from about the level of the fourth or fifth rib to the apex, and two or three ligations are then applied to fix the pleural tent and lung parenchyma. Patients in whom an m-tent was not indicated underwent bullectomy plus coverage using absorbable materials. Twenty-seven patients underwent bullectomy plus m-tent (m-tent group) and 62 underwent bullectomy plus coverage over a staple line using an absorbable material such as a polyglycolic acid sheet or nitrocellulose sheet (coverage group). No severe postoperative complications were observed in either group. The m-tent and coverage groups showed significant differences in operation time (129 vs 86 min, mean), haemorrhage (12.8 vs 7.2 ml), postoperative hospital stay (3.7 vs 2.9 days) and postoperative painkiller intake (8.6 vs 6.8 days). Recurrence was observed in 1 (3.7%) and 2 patients (3.2%), respectively. The thoracoscopic m-tent procedure requires a longer operation, a longer hospital stay and greater painkiller intake. However, these differences are acceptable, and an m-tent should be considered as an option for pleural reinforcement in spontaneous pneumothorax, especially in patients who are complicated with severe pulmonary

Multi-copy entanglement purification with practical spontaneous parametric down conversion sources

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shuai-Shuai; Shu, Qi; Zhou, Lan; Sheng, Yu-Bo

2017-06-01

Entanglement purification is to distill the high quality entanglement from the low quality entanglement with local operations and classical communications. It is one of the key technologies in long-distance quantum communication. We discuss an entanglement purification protocol (EPP) with spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) sources, in contrast to previous EPP with multi-copy mixed states, which requires ideal entanglement sources. We show that the SPDC source is not an obstacle for purification, but can benefit the fidelity of the purified mixed state. This EPP works for linear optics and is feasible in current experiment technology. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11474168 and 61401222), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20151502), the Qing Lan Project in Jiangsu Province, China, and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China.

[Bacterial vaginosis and spontaneous preterm birth].

Science.gov (United States)

Brabant, G

2016-12-01

To determine if bacterial vaginosis is a marker for risk of spontaneous preterm delivery and if its detection and treatment can reduce this risk. Consultation of the database Pubmed/Medline, Science Direct, and international guidelines of medical societies. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a dysbiosis resulting in an imbalance in the vaginal flora through the multiplication of anaerobic bacteria and jointly of a disappearance of well-known protective Lactobacilli. His diagnosis is based on clinical Amsel criteria and/or a Gram stain with establishment of the Nugent score. The prevalence of the BV extraordinarily varies according to ethnic and/or geographical origin (4-58 %), in France, it is close to 7 % in the first trimester of pregnancy (EL2). The link between BV and spontaneous premature delivery is low with an odds ratio between 1.5 and 2 in the most recent studies (EL3). Metronidazole or clindamycin is effective to treat BV (EL3). It is recommended to prescribe one of these antibiotics in the case of symptomatic BV (Professional Consensus). The testing associated with the treatment of BV in the global population showed no benefit in the prevention of the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery (EL2). Concerning low-risk asymptomatic population (defined by the absence of antecedent of premature delivery), it has been failed profit to track and treat the BV in the prevention of the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery (EL1). Concerning the high-risk population (defined by a history of preterm delivery), it has been failed profit to track and treat the VB in the prevention of the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery (EL3). However, in the sub population of patients with a history of preterm delivery occurred in a context of materno-fetal bacterial infection, there may be a benefit to detect and treat early and systematically genital infection, and in particular the BV (Professional Consensus). The screening and treatment of BV during pregnancy in asymptomatic low

Spontaneous Gamma Activity in Schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Yoji; Oribe, Naoya; Kanba, Shigenobu; Onitsuka, Toshiaki; Nestor, Paul G; Spencer, Kevin M

2015-08-01

A major goal of translational neuroscience is to identify neural circuit abnormalities in neuropsychiatric disorders that can be studied in animal models to facilitate the development of new treatments. Oscillations in the gamma band (30-100 Hz) of the electroencephalogram have received considerable interest as the basic mechanisms underlying these oscillations are understood, and gamma abnormalities have been found in schizophrenia (SZ). Animal models of SZ based on hypofunction of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) demonstrate increased spontaneous broadband gamma power, but this phenomenon has not been identified clearly in patients with SZ. To examine spontaneous gamma power and its relationship to evoked gamma oscillations in the auditory cortex of patients with SZ. We performed a cross-sectional study including 24 patients with chronic SZ and 24 matched healthy control participants at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2012. Electroencephalograms were obtained during auditory steady-state stimulation at multiple frequencies (20, 30, and 40 Hz) and during a resting state in 18 participants in each group. Electroencephalographic activity in the auditory cortex was estimated using dipole source localization. Auditory steady-state response (ASSR) measures included the phase-locking factor and evoked power. Spontaneous gamma power was measured as induced (non-phase-locked) gamma power in the ASSR data and as total gamma power in the resting-state data. The ASSR phase-locking factor was reduced significantly in patients with SZ compared with controls for the 40-Hz stimulation (mean [SD], 0.075 [0.028] vs 0.113 [0.065]; F1,46 = 6.79 [P = .012]) but not the 20- or the 30-Hz stimulation (0.042 [0.038] vs 0.043 [0.034]; F1,46 = 0.006 [P = .938] and 0.084 [0.040] vs 0.098 [0.050]; F1,46 = 1.605 [P = .212], respectively), repeating previous findings. The mean [SD] broadband-induced (30

Merkel Cell Carcinoma with Spontaneous Regression: A Case Report and Immunohistochemical Study

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Hitoshi Terui

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC is an aggressive neuroendocrine carcinoma that only rarely regresses spontaneously. Since little is known about the immunological mechanisms involved in the spontaneous regression of MCC, we describe a case of MCC with spontaneous regression and employed immunohistochemical staining for cytotoxic and immunosuppressive molecules to investigate possible mechanisms involved in the spontaneous regression of MCC. Interestingly, compared to conventional MCC, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in MCC with spontaneous regression contained higher numbers of CD8+ cells and granulysin-bearing cells and lower numbers of CD206+ cells. Our present study suggests one of the possible reasons for the spontaneous regression of MCC.

Spontaneous poisoning by Prosopis juliflora (Leguminosae) in sheep

Science.gov (United States)

The aim of this paper is to describe the first report of clinical, epidemiological and pathological aspects of spontaneous poisoning by Prosopis juliflora in sheep. Of a total of 500 sheep at risk, two adult male sheep were affected; one died spontaneously and the other animal was examined, euthaniz...

Design of active-neutron fuel rod scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffith, G.W.; Menlove, H.O.

1996-01-01

An active-neutron fuel rod scanner has been designed for the assay of fissile materials in mixed oxide fuel rods. A 252 Cf source is located at the center of the scanner very near the through hole for the fuel rods. Spontaneous fission neutrons from the californium are moderated and induce fissions within the passing fuel rod. The rod continues past a combined gamma-ray and neutron shield where delayed gamma rays above 1 MeV are detected. We used the Monte Carlo code MCNP to design the scanner and review optimum materials and geometries. An inhomogeneous beryllium, graphite, and polyethylene moderator has been designed that uses source neutrons much more efficiently than assay systems using polyethylene moderators. Layers of borated polyethylene and tungsten are used to shield the detectors. Large NaI(Tl) detectors were selected to measure the delayed gamma rays. The enrichment zones of a thermal reactor fuel pin could be measured to within 1% counting statistics for practical rod speeds. Applications of the rod scanner include accountability of fissile material for safeguards applications, quality control of the fissile content in a fuel rod, and the verification of reactivity potential for mixed oxide fuels. (orig.)

Spontaneous Hypoglycemia After Islet Autotransplantation for Chronic Pancreatitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yu Kuei; Faiman, Charles; Johnston, Philip C; Walsh, R Matthew; Stevens, Tyler; Bottino, Rita; Hatipoglu, Betul A

2016-10-01

Spontaneous hypoglycemia has been reported in patients after total pancreatectomy (TP) and islet autotransplantation (IAT) with maintained insulin independence. Details surrounding these events have not been well described. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency and characteristics of spontaneous hypoglycemia in patients undergoing TP-IAT and/or to ascertain predictive or protective factors of its development. This was an observational cohort study in 40 patients who underwent TP-IAT from August 2008 to May 2014, with a median follow-up of 34 months. The study was conducted at a single institution (Cleveland Clinic). Patients included recipients of TP-IAT. The intervention included small, frequent meals in those patients who developed spontaneous hypoglycemia. Incidence of spontaneous hypoglycemia development, characteristics of the patients developing hypoglycemia, and their response to small, frequent meals were measured. Six of 12 patients, who maintained insulin independence, developed spontaneous hypoglycemia. The episodes could be fasting, postprandial, and/or exercise associated, with the frequency ranging from two to three times daily to once every 1-2 weeks. All patients experienced at least one episode that required external assistance, glucagon administration, and/or emergent medical attention. Patients who developed hypoglycemia had a lower median age and tended to have a lower median islet equivalent/kg body weight but a higher median total islet equivalent, body mass index, and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance score. All patients who received small, frequent meal intervention had improvement in severity and/or frequency of the hypoglycemic episodes. Spontaneous hypoglycemia is prevalent after TP-IAT. Although the underlying pathophysiology responsible for these hypoglycemia events remains to be elucidated, small, frequent meal intervention is helpful in ameliorating this condition.

On spontaneous breakdown in Σ-models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, E.A.

1975-01-01

The group theory aspects of spontaneous breakdown in linear Σ-models are discussed. General conditions are formulated under which multiplet of group G (compact or noncompact) is suitable for constructing the Σ-model with a given subgroup of stability of vacuum. It is shown that the Σ-models of spontaneously broken space-time symmetries can be constructed in general only if some extra coordinates are introduced in addition to an ordinary 4-coordinate xsub(μ). The connection between Σ-models of internal symmetries and appropriate nonlinear realizations has also been investigated

Cavity enhanced rephased amplified spontaneous emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A Williamson, Lewis; J Longdell, Jevon

2014-01-01

Amplified spontaneous emission is usually treated as an incoherent noise process. Recent theoretical and experimental work using rephasing optical pulses has shown that rephased amplified spontaneous emission (RASE) is a potential source of wide bandwidth time-delayed entanglement. Due to poor echo efficiency the plain RASE protocol does not in theory achieve perfect entanglement. Experiments done to date show a very small amount of entanglement at best. Here we show that RASE can, in principle, produce perfect multimode time-delayed two mode squeezing when the active medium is placed inside a Q-switched cavity. (paper)

Nature of monovacancies on quasi-hexagonal structure of reconstructed Au(100) surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pieczyrak, Barbara; Trembulowicz, Artur; Antczak, Grażyna, E-mail: antczak@ifd.uni.wroc.pl; Jurczyszyn, Leszek

2017-06-15

Highlights: • Surprising nature of surface monovacancies: spontaneous healing. • Determination of vacancy formation energy in the range of 0.34–0.55 eV. • A good agreement between the theoretical (DFT) and experimental (STM) data. - Abstract: Density functional theory and the scanning tunneling microscopy were applied to investigate the nature of the defects on an unrotated reconstructed hexagonal Au(100) surface. We show the correlation between the nature of monovacancies and the geometrical arrangement of the atoms from the first (topmost) layer with respect to the second layer. The vacancies created directly above the atoms from the second layer (on-top position) move spontaneously into the subsurface upon relaxation. For the vacancies created in other places, the subsurface shift is hindered by the energy barrier and the lifted subsurface atom is in the interlayer position. Charge density calculations were compared with results from the scanning tunneling microscopy images which show a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental data.

The influence of spontaneous activity on stimulus processing in primary visual cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Schölvinck, M L; Friston, K J; Rees, G

2012-02-01

Spontaneous activity in the resting human brain has been studied extensively; however, how such activity affects the local processing of a sensory stimulus is relatively unknown. Here, we examined the impact of spontaneous activity in primary visual cortex on neuronal and behavioural responses to a simple visual stimulus, using functional MRI. Stimulus-evoked responses remained essentially unchanged by spontaneous fluctuations, combining with them in a largely linear fashion (i.e., with little evidence for an interaction). However, interactions between spontaneous fluctuations and stimulus-evoked responses were evident behaviourally; high levels of spontaneous activity tended to be associated with increased stimulus detection at perceptual threshold. Our results extend those found in studies of spontaneous fluctuations in motor cortex and higher order visual areas, and suggest a fundamental role for spontaneous activity in stimulus processing. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.

On the influence of ultraviolet radiation on spontaneous tumors in NMRI mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenigsmann, G.; Kinkel, H.J.; Bocionek, P.; Wolff, F.

1981-01-01

During a period of 12 and 15 months respectively, female NMRI mice were irradiated twelve hours per day with specific parts of the ultraviolet spectrum (three groups, each comprising 100 animals: non-irradiated control group, animals irradiated with B units, animals irradiated with A/B units). No considerable influence of the chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation could be demonstrated with regard to the development of the body weight and the hematologic condition. Group B had the same rate of spontaneous tumors of the respiratory tract as the control group; this rate was higher in group A/B. As to the development of spontaneous tumors in the lymphatic tissues, there seems to be a dependence on radiation: the animals of group B presented a slightly higher, those of group A/B a higher development than the animals of the nonirradiated control group. It cannot be definitely clarified yet to what extent this increased tumor rate was additionally induced by the higher environmental temperature or other influences involved by experiment. Harding-Passey melanomas were inoculated in NMRI mice and, 48 hours later, they were exposed to defined emission spectra within the natural ultraviolet spectrum. The exposed animals showed a slower growth of the transplanted tumors than the non-exposed animals, and especially the animals exposed to UVB radiation had a longer survival time. This chronic irradiation test was carried out in order to examine the influence of defined emission spectra on autochthonous tumors in NMRI mice and on their spontaneous tumor rate and blood count. (orig.) [de

New Perspectives on Spontaneous Brain Activity: Dynamic Networks and Energy Matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Tozzi, Arturo; Zare, Marzieh; Benasich, April A

2016-01-01

Spontaneous brain activity has received increasing attention as demonstrated by the exponential rise in the number of published article on this topic over the last 30 years. Such "intrinsic" brain activity, generated in the absence of an explicit task, is frequently associated with resting-state or default-mode networks (DMN)s. The focus on characterizing spontaneous brain activity promises to shed new light on questions concerning the structural and functional architecture of the brain and how they are related to "mind". However, many critical questions have yet to be addressed. In this review, we focus on a scarcely explored area, specifically the energetic requirements and constraints of spontaneous activity, taking into account both thermodynamical and informational perspectives. We argue that the "classical" definitions of spontaneous activity do not take into account an important feature, that is, the critical thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Spontaneous brain activity is associated with slower oscillations compared with evoked, task-related activity, hence it exhibits lower levels of enthalpy and "free-energy" (i.e., the energy that can be converted to do work), thus supporting noteworthy thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Increased spike frequency during evoked activity has a significant metabolic cost, consequently, brain functions traditionally associated with spontaneous activity, such as mind wandering, require less energy that other nervous activities. We also review recent empirical observations in neuroscience, in order to capture how spontaneous brain dynamics and mental function can be embedded in a non-linear dynamical framework, which considers nervous activity in terms of phase spaces, particle trajectories, random walks, attractors and/or paths at the edge of the chaos. This takes us from the thermodynamic free-energy, to the realm of "variational

Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Computed Tomographic Characteristics and Outcome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimara de la Caridad Vergara Santos

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: strokes are the third leading cause of death among adults and 10-15 % of them are due to spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Objective: to characterize spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage through computed tomography scan and its outcome. Methods: a case series study was conducted comprising patients diagnosed with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage admitted to the Arnaldo Milián Castro Provincial University Hospital in Villa Clara from January 2009 to January 2010. Tomographic variables of interest were derived from evaluation of spontaneous intracerebral hematomas. Results: fifty-nine cases of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage were studied, 23 were located in lobar regions, 4 had severe midline shift, and 2 showed volume greater than 80 ml. Eight out of eleven with extension into the ventricular system had an unfavorable outcome. Among those with thalamic hemorrhage, patients with diameter larger than 4cm and extension into the ventricular system died. Patients with putaminal hemorrhage larger than 4 cm and posterior fossa hematoma with hydrocephalus had a poor outcome, as well as most individuals (55 with other mass effects. Most lobar hematomas (14 out of 23 had a satisfactory outcome, unlike cerebellar and brainstem hematomas. Conclusions: tomographic variables that had a negative impact on the outcome were: volume greater than 80 ml, severe midline shift, diameter larger than 4 cm, extension into the ventricular system, hydrocephalus, other signs of mass effect and brainstem location.

On the extinction paradox, the finiteness of resources, and the nature of probability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munera, H.

1991-01-01

A talk by Lewins is discussed. Lewins addressed the subject of randomness in nature, and some implications for nuclear reactors. In particular, Lewins described the extinction paradox: a critical ''reactor is self-sustaining in the mean, nevertheless it will shut down with certainty!'' According to Lewins, the paradox arises because the idealized chain process leaves out the fact that resources are always finite (ie, the number of initial neutrons is finite, and the amount of fissile atoms in a reactor depends upon Avogadro's number). This explanation, however, only implies that the model used to reach the paradox is too naive to represent a real reactor (indeed, Lewins immediately explains more realistic models), but the paradox still remains in the context of the idealized chain reaction. Two ways of explaining the paradox are considered. (author)

Spontaneous perseverative turning in rats with radiation-induced hippocampal damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mickley, G.A.; Ferguson, J.L.; Nemeth, T.J.; Mulvihill, M.A.; Alderks, C.E.

1989-01-01

This study found a new behavioral correlate of lesions specific to the dentate granule cell layer of the hippocampus: spontaneous perseverative turning. Irradiation of a portion of the neonatal rat cerebral hemispheres produced hypoplasia of the granule cell layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus while sparing the rest of the brain. Radiation-induced damage to the hippocampal formation caused rats placed in bowls to spontaneously turn in long, slow bouts without reversals. Irradiated subjects also exhibited other behaviors characteristic of hippocampal damage (e.g., perseveration in spontaneous exploration of the arms of a T-maze, retarded acquisition of a passive avoidance task, and increased horizontal locomotion). These data extend previously reported behavioral correlates of fascia dentata lesions and suggest the usefulness of a bout analysis of spontaneous bowl turning as a measure of nondiscrete-trial spontaneous alternation and a sensitive additional indicator of radiation-induced hippocampal damage

The effects of age and divided attention on spontaneous recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Benjamin A; Jacoby, Larry L; Thomas, Ruthann C; Balota, David A

2011-05-01

Studies of recognition typically involve tests in which the participant's memory for a stimulus is directly questioned. There are occasions however, in which memory occurs more spontaneously (e.g., an acquaintance seeming familiar out of context). Spontaneous recognition was investigated in a novel paradigm involving study of pictures and words followed by recognition judgments on stimuli with an old or new word superimposed over an old or new picture. Participants were instructed to make their recognition decision on either the picture or word and to ignore the distracting stimulus. Spontaneous recognition was measured as the influence of old vs. new distracters on target recognition. Across two experiments, older adults and younger adults placed under divided-attention showed a greater tendency to spontaneously recognize old distracters as compared to full-attention younger adults. The occurrence of spontaneous recognition is discussed in relation to ability to constrain retrieval to goal-relevant information.

Association between Nutritional Status with Spontaneous Abortion

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Rahimeh Ahmadi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Spontaneous abortion is the most common adverse pregnancy outcome. We aimed to investigate a possible link between nutrient deficiencies and the risk of spontaneous abortion. Materials and Methods: This case-control study included the case group (n=331 experiencing a spontaneous abortion before 14 weeks of pregnancy and the control group (n=331 who were healthy pregnant women over 14 weeks of pregnancy. The participants filled out Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ, in which they reported their frequency of consumption for a given serving of each food item during the past three months, on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The reported frequency for each food item was converted to a daily intake. Then, consumption of nutrients was compared between the two groups. Results: There are significant differences between the two groups regarding consumed servings/day of vegetables, bread and cereal, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, fats, oils and dairy products (P=0.012, P<0.001, P=0.004, P<0.001, P=0.019, respectively. There are significant differences between the two groups in all micronutrient including folic acid, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and zinc (P<0.001. Conclusion: Poor nutrientions may be correlated with increased risk of spontaneous abortion

Simulating spontaneously generated coherence in a four-level atomic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Aijun; Gao Jinyue; Wu Jinhui; Wang Lei

2005-01-01

We study the spontaneous emission property of a four-level atomic system driven by two coherent fields. By numerical calculations in the bare state picture, we show that such interesting phenomena as extremely narrow peaks and spontaneous emission quenching can be realized, which are well understood by qualitative explanations in the partially and fully dressed state pictures. Especially, this coherently driven atomic system has two close-lying levels in the partially dressed state picture so that spontaneously generated coherence arises. Using our considered scheme it is feasible to carry out experiments based on spontaneously generated coherence because all rigorous requirements have been avoided in the bare state picture

Spontaneous imbibition of water and determination of effective contact angles in the Eagle Ford Shale Formation using neutron imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DiStefano, Victoria H.; Cheshire, Michael C.; McFarlane, Joanna; Kolbus, Lindsay M.; Hale, Richard E.; Perfect, Edmund; Bilheux, Hassina Z.; Santodonato, Louis J.; Hussey, Daniel S.; Jacobson, David L.; LaManna, Jacob M.; Bingham, Philip R.; Starchenko, Vitaliy; Anovitz, Lawrence M.

2017-10-01

Understanding of fundamental processes and prediction of optimal parameters during the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing process results in economically effective improvement of oil and natural gas extraction. Although, the modern analytical and computational models can capture fracture growth, there is a lack of experimental data on spontaneous imbibition and wettability in oil and gas reservoirs for the validation of further model development. In this work, we used neutron imaging to measure the spontaneous imbibition of water into fractures of Eagle Ford Shale with known geometries and fracture orientations. An analytical solution for a set of nonlinear second-order differential equations was applied to the measured imbibition data to determine effective contact angles. The analytical solution fit the measured imbibition data reasonably well and determined effective contact angles were slightly higher than static contact angles due to effects of in-situ changes in velocity, surface roughness, and heterogeneity of mineral surfaces on the fracture surface. Additionally, small fracture widths may have retarded imbibition and affected model fits, which suggests that average fracture widths are not satisfactory for modeling imbibition in natural systems.

Constrained Gauge Fields from Spontaneous Lorentz Violation

CERN Document Server

Chkareuli, J L; Jejelava, J G; Nielsen, H B

2008-01-01

Spontaneous Lorentz violation realized through a nonlinear vector field constraint of the type $A_{\\mu}^{2}=M^{2}$ ($M$ is the proposed scale for Lorentz violation) is shown to generate massless vector Goldstone bosons, gauging the starting global internal symmetries in arbitrary relativistically invariant theories. The gauge invariance appears in essence as a necessary condition for these bosons not to be superfluously restricted in degrees of freedom, apart from the constraint due to which the true vacuum in a theory is chosen by the Lorentz violation. In the Abelian symmetry case the only possible theory proves to be QED with a massless vector Goldstone boson naturally associated with the photon, while the non-Abelian symmetry case results in a conventional Yang-Mills theory. These theories, both Abelian and non-Abelian, look essentially nonlinear and contain particular Lorentz (and $CPT$) violating couplings when expressed in terms of the pure Goldstone vector modes. However, they do not lead to physical ...

Improvement of non-destructive fissile mass assays in α low-level waste drums: A matrix correction method based on neutron capture gamma-rays and a neutron generator

Science.gov (United States)

Jallu, F.; Loche, F.

2008-08-01

Within the framework of radioactive waste control, non-destructive assay (NDA) methods may be employed. The active neutron interrogation (ANI) method is now well-known and effective in quantifying low α-activity fissile masses (mainly 235U, 239Pu, 241Pu) with low densities, i.e. less than about 0.4, in radioactive waste drums of volumes up to 200 l. The PROMpt Epithermal and THErmal interrogation Experiment (PROMETHEE [F. Jallu, A. Mariani, C. Passard, A.-C. Raoux, H. Toubon, Alpha low level waste control: improvement of the PROMETHEE 6 assay system performances. Nucl. Technol. 153 (January) (2006); C. Passard, A. Mariani, F. Jallu, J. Romeyer-Dherber, H. Recroix, M. Rodriguez, J. Loridon, C. Denis, PROMETHEE: an alpha low level waste assay system using passive and active neutron measurement methods. Nucl. Technol. 140 (December) (2002) 303-314]) based on ANI has been under development since 1996 to reach the incinerating α low level waste (LLW) criterion of about 50 Bq[α] per gram of crude waste (≈50 μg Pu) in 118 l drums on the date the drums are conditioned. Difficulties arise when dealing with matrices containing neutron energy moderators such as H and neutron absorbents such as Cl. These components may have a great influence on the fissile mass deduced from the neutron signal measured by ANI. For example, the calibration coefficient measured in a 118 l drum containing a cellulose matrix (density d = 0.144 g cm -3) may be 50 times higher than that obtained in a poly-vinyl-chloride matrix ( d = 0.253 g cm -3). Without any information on the matrix, the fissile mass is often overestimated due to safety procedures and by considering the most disadvantageous calibration coefficient corresponding to the most absorbing and moderating calibration matrix. The work discussed in this paper was performed at the CEA Nuclear Measurement Laboratory in France. It concerns the development of a matrix effect correction method, which consists in identifying and quantifying

Improvement of non-destructive fissile mass assays in α low-level waste drums: A matrix correction method based on neutron capture gamma-rays and a neutron generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jallu, F.; Loche, F.

2008-01-01

Within the framework of radioactive waste control, non-destructive assay (NDA) methods may be employed. The active neutron interrogation (ANI) method is now well-known and effective in quantifying low α-activity fissile masses (mainly 235 U, 239 Pu, 241 Pu) with low densities, i.e. less than about 0.4, in radioactive waste drums of volumes up to 200 l. The PROMpt Epithermal and THErmal interrogation Experiment (PROMETHEE [F. Jallu, A. Mariani, C. Passard, A.-C. Raoux, H. Toubon, Alpha low level waste control: improvement of the PROMETHEE 6 assay system performances. Nucl. Technol. 153 (January) (2006); C. Passard, A. Mariani, F. Jallu, J. Romeyer-Dherber, H. Recroix, M. Rodriguez, J. Loridon, C. Denis, PROMETHEE: an alpha low level waste assay system using passive and active neutron measurement methods. Nucl. Technol. 140 (December) (2002) 303-314]) based on ANI has been under development since 1996 to reach the incinerating α low level waste (LLW) criterion of about 50 Bq[α] per gram of crude waste (∼50 μg Pu) in 118 l drums on the date the drums are conditioned. Difficulties arise when dealing with matrices containing neutron energy moderators such as H and neutron absorbents such as Cl. These components may have a great influence on the fissile mass deduced from the neutron signal measured by ANI. For example, the calibration coefficient measured in a 118 l drum containing a cellulose matrix (density d = 0.144 g cm -3 ) may be 50 times higher than that obtained in a poly-vinyl-chloride matrix (d = 0.253 g cm -3 ). Without any information on the matrix, the fissile mass is often overestimated due to safety procedures and by considering the most disadvantageous calibration coefficient corresponding to the most absorbing and moderating calibration matrix. The work discussed in this paper was performed at the CEA Nuclear Measurement Laboratory in France. It concerns the development of a matrix effect correction method, which consists in identifying and

Improvement of non-destructive fissile mass assays in {alpha} low-level waste drums: A matrix correction method based on neutron capture gamma-rays and a neutron generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jallu, F. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, CEA, DEN, Nuclear Measurement Laboratory, Bat. 224, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance (France)], E-mail: fanny.jallu@cea.fr; Loche, F. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, CEA, DEN, Nuclear Measurement Laboratory, Bat. 224, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance (France)

2008-08-15

Within the framework of radioactive waste control, non-destructive assay (NDA) methods may be employed. The active neutron interrogation (ANI) method is now well-known and effective in quantifying low {alpha}-activity fissile masses (mainly {sup 235}U, {sup 239}Pu, {sup 241}Pu) with low densities, i.e. less than about 0.4, in radioactive waste drums of volumes up to 200 l. The PROMpt Epithermal and THErmal interrogation Experiment (PROMETHEE [F. Jallu, A. Mariani, C. Passard, A.-C. Raoux, H. Toubon, Alpha low level waste control: improvement of the PROMETHEE 6 assay system performances. Nucl. Technol. 153 (January) (2006); C. Passard, A. Mariani, F. Jallu, J. Romeyer-Dherber, H. Recroix, M. Rodriguez, J. Loridon, C. Denis, PROMETHEE: an alpha low level waste assay system using passive and active neutron measurement methods. Nucl. Technol. 140 (December) (2002) 303-314]) based on ANI has been under development since 1996 to reach the incinerating {alpha} low level waste (LLW) criterion of about 50 Bq[{alpha}] per gram of crude waste ({approx}50 {mu}g Pu) in 118 l drums on the date the drums are conditioned. Difficulties arise when dealing with matrices containing neutron energy moderators such as H and neutron absorbents such as Cl. These components may have a great influence on the fissile mass deduced from the neutron signal measured by ANI. For example, the calibration coefficient measured in a 118 l drum containing a cellulose matrix (density d = 0.144 g cm{sup -3}) may be 50 times higher than that obtained in a poly-vinyl-chloride matrix (d = 0.253 g cm{sup -3}). Without any information on the matrix, the fissile mass is often overestimated due to safety procedures and by considering the most disadvantageous calibration coefficient corresponding to the most absorbing and moderating calibration matrix. The work discussed in this paper was performed at the CEA Nuclear Measurement Laboratory in France. It concerns the development of a matrix effect correction

Spontaneity and Equilibrium III: A History of Misinformation

Science.gov (United States)

Raff, Lionel M.

2014-01-01

Necessary and sufficient criteria for reaction spontaneity in a given direction and for spontaneity of finite transformations in single-reaction, closed systems are developed. The criteria are general in that they hold for reactions conducted under either conditions of constant T and p or constant T and V. These results are illustrated using a…

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection following Topical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander L. Pan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare condition, usually presenting as an acute coronary syndrome, and is often seen in states associated with high systemic estrogen levels such as pregnancy or oral contraceptive use. While topical hormonal replacement therapy may result in increased estrogen levels similar to those documented with oral contraceptive use, there are no reported cases of spontaneous coronary dissection with topical hormonal replacement therapy. We describe a 53-year-old female who developed two spontaneous coronary dissections while on topical hormonal replacement therapy. The patient had no other risk factors for coronary dissection. After withdrawal from topical hormonal therapy, our patient has done well and has not had recurrent coronary artery dissections over a one-year follow-up period. The potential contributory role of topical hormonal therapy as a cause of spontaneous coronary dissection should be recognized.

Spontaneous Rotational Inversion in Phycomyces

KAUST Repository

Goriely, Alain

2011-03-01

The filamentary fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus undergoes a series of remarkable transitions during aerial growth. During what is known as the stagea IV growth phase, the fungus extends while rotating in a counterclockwise manner when viewed from above (stagea IVa) and then, while continuing to grow, spontaneously reverses to a clockwise rotation (stagea IVb). This phase lasts for 24-48Ah and is sometimes followed by yet another reversal (stageAIVc) before the overall growth ends. Here, we propose a continuum mechanical model of this entire process using nonlinear, anisotropic, elasticity and show how helical anisotropy associated with the cell wall structure can induce spontaneous rotation and, under appropriate circumstances, the observed reversal of rotational handedness. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Unbiased Spontaneous Solar Fuel Production using Stable LaFeO3 Photoelectrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Pawar, Govinder S; Tahir, Asif A

2018-02-22

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting to produce solar fuel (hydrogen) has long been considered as the Holy Grail to a carbon-free hydrogen economy. The PEC concept to produce solar fuel is to emulate the natural photosynthesis using man made materials. The bottle-neck in realising the concept practically has been the difficulty in identifying stable low-cost semiconductors that meet the thermodynamic and kinetic criteria for photoelectrolysis. We have fabricated a novel p-type LaFeO 3 photoelectrode using an inexpensive and scalable spray pyrolysis method. Our nanostructured LaFeO 3 photoelectrode results in spontaneous hydrogen evolution from water without any external bias applied. Moreover, the photoelectrode has a faradaic efficiency of 30% and showed excellent stability over 21 hours. From optical and impedance data, the constructed band diagram showed that LaFeO 3 can straddle the water redox potential with the conduction band at -1.11 V above the reduction potential of hydrogen. We have fabricated a low cost LaFeO 3 photoelectrode that can spontaneously produce hydrogen from water using sunlight, making it a strong future candidate for renewable hydrogen generation.

Validation of second trimester miscarriages and spontaneous deliveries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sundtoft, Iben Blaabjerg; Sneider, Kirstine; Christiansen, Ole Bjarne

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To validate the diagnosis of second trimester miscarriages/deliveries (16+0 weeks to 27+6 weeks of gestation) recorded as miscarriages in the Danish National Patient Registry or spontaneous deliveries in the Danish Medical Birth Registry, and asses the validity of risk factors, pregnancy...... information and calculated positive predictive values of the registry diagnoses stratified by type of registry, as well as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and kappa coefficients of risk factors, pregnancy complications, and cerclage. RESULTS: Miscarriage/spontaneous delivery in the second......-based information on pregnancy complications need to be improved. We recommend that all pregnancies ending spontaneously beyond the first trimester are included in the national birth registry and described by appropriate variables....

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mehta, G.; Cutler, A.

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners' experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ

Spatial Dependent Spontaneous Emission of an Atom in a Semi-Infinite Waveguide of Rectangular Cross Section

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hai-Xi; Sun, Xiao-Qi; Lu, Jing; Zhou, Lan

2018-01-01

We study a quantum electrodynamics (QED) system made of a two-level atom and a semi-infinite rectangular waveguide, which behaves as a perfect mirror in one end. The spatial dependence of the atomic spontaneous emission has been included in the coupling strength relevant to the eigenmodes of the waveguide. The role of retardation is studied for the atomic transition frequency far away from the cutoff frequencies. The atom-mirror distance introduces different phases and retardation times into the dynamics of the atom interacting resonantly with the corresponding transverse modes. It is found that the upper state population decreases from its initial as long as the atom-mirror distance does not vanish, and is lowered and lowered when more and more transverse modes are resonant with the atom. The atomic spontaneous emission can be either suppressed or enhanced by adjusting the atomic location for short retardation time. There are partial revivals and collapses due to the photon reabsorbed and re-emitted by the atom for long retardation time. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11374095, 11422540, 11434011, and 11575058, National Fundamental Research Program of China (the 973 Program) under Grant No. 2012CB922103, and Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11JJ7001

Factors Analysis of Spontaneous Abortion after Thawed-vitrified Blastocysts Transfer

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Dong YANG; Zheng-yi SUN; Cheng-yan DENG; Qi YU; Fang-fang HE

2008-01-01

Objective To investigate the factors resulting in spontaneous abortion after transferring frozen-thawing blastocysts. Methods A total of 108 cases transferring vitrified blastocysts were divided into two groups: abortion group (n =20) and ongoing group (n=88). Cytogenetic analysis of apoblemas was performed in 12 cases of the abortion.Results The overall spontaneous abortion rate was 18.50%(20/108) and the early spontaneous rate was 16.67%(18/108). ,4 significant difference in maternal age was observed (abortion group: 33.3±4.0 years, ongoing group: 31.0±3.6 years, P=0.02). No difference in other parameters was found. Cytogenetic analysis of apoblemas was obtained for 12 cases, and 2 specimens were contaminated. Seven of ten patients had abnormal karyotypes. Conclusion The underlying cause of spontaneous abortion after transferring frozen thawing blastocysts appears to be abnormal karyotypes.Advancing maternal age seems to increase the risk of spontaneous abortion.

Factors Associated with Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus in Chinese Population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Kong

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Hepatitis C virus (HCV infections spontaneously clear in approximately 15–45% of infected individuals. Factors which influence spontaneous HCV clearance remain to be identified. The purpose of the present study was to identify variables associated with spontaneous HCV clearance in a referred population of Chinese patients. The prevalence of host, viral, and environmental factors known to influence the outcome of HCV infections was compared in 92 HCV spontaneous clearance subjects and 318 HCV persistent infection subjects. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify those factors associated with spontaneous HCV clearance. In univariate analysis, female gender, a history of icteric hepatitis, serologic evidence of concurrent HBV infection, and rs12979860 CC genotype were positively associated with spontaneous HCV clearance, while alcohol consumption was negatively associated with clearance. In multivariate analysis, female gender, a history of icteric hepatitis, concurrent HBV infection, and rs12979860 CC genotype remained independent variables associated with spontaneous HCV clearance. Spontaneous HCV clearance is more likely to occur in females, subjects with a history of icteric hepatitis, HBV coinfections, and those with the rs12979860 CC genotype.

Bilateral spontaneous rupture of flexor digitorum profundus tendons.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Sullivan, S T

2012-02-03

Spontaneous tendon rupture is an unusual condition usually associated with underlying disease processes such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic renal failure or bony abnormalities of the hand. We report a case of spontaneous, non-concurrent bilateral rupture of flexor profundus tendons in an otherwise healthy individual. Treatment was successful and consisted of a two-stage reconstruction of the ruptured tendon.

Bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax with pulmonary metastases of synovial sarcoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matushita, J.P.K.; Azevedo, C.M. de

1989-01-01

The association of bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax with pulmonary tumor is uncommon and with pulmonary metastases is rare. The clinical and radiological features of bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax from a synovial sarcoma in a 14 years old boy are described. (author) [pt

Visually Evoked Spiking Evolves While Spontaneous Ongoing Dynamics Persist

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor K; Darokhan, Ziauddin

2016-01-01

attractor. Its existence guarantees that evoked spiking return to the spontaneous state. However, the spontaneous ongoing spiking state and the visual evoked spiking states are qualitatively different and are separated by a threshold (separatrix). The functional advantage of this organization...

Radioactive waste reality as revealed by neutron measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, F.J.

1995-01-01

To comprehend certain aspects of the contents of a radioactive waste container is not a trivial matter, especially if one is not allowed to open the container and peer inside. One of the suite of tools available to a practioner in the art of nondestructive assay is based upon neutron measurements. Neutrons, both naturally occuring and induced, are penertrating radiations that can be detected external to the waste container. The practioner should be skilled in applying the proper technique(s) to selected waste types. Available techniques include active and passive neutron measurements, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The waste material itself can compromise the assay results by occluding a portion of the mass of fissile material present, or by multiplying the number of neutrons produced by a spontaneously fissioning mass. This paper will discuss the difficult, but albeit necessary marriage, between radiioactive waste types and alternative neutron measurement techniques